DOING enough endurance exercise can keep a 70-year-old’s heart as strong as one 40 years younger.
As people age, the walls of their heart stiffen, and less blood enters the heart between beats. To keep pumping enough, the heart works harder, but this can result in blood backing up in the lungs, causing heart failure.
Benjamin Levine at the Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas, wanted to find out how much ageing is to blame for this kind of stiffening, compared with lack of exercise. His team studied 24 adults approaching 70 years old. Half were past sporting champions and still…
