Staying Active As You Age
Guest
: Veronica Pinto Miranda, MD
From the Show: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Dr. Veronica Pinto Miranda shares why it's important to stay active as you age.
Transcription:
Evo Terra: Not long ago, I crossed over the half century mark, as I reflect on the health challenges faced by my parents and my grandparents, after they reached this age. I'm looking for options, so I have a different outcome. To help me better understand, today I'm chatting with Dr. Veronica Pinto Miranda at Geriatrician at UAMS. This is UAMS Health Talk, the podcast by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. I'm Evo Terra. Dr. Pinto Miranda. I'll start by asking what I think is a simple question. Why is it important for us to stay active as we age?
Dr. Pinto Miranda: There are many reasons I would say that five are probably the most important ones and the ones that most people will relate to, the first one is that it preserves good health and prevents disease. And there are plenty of studies, but it's not only for cardiovascular conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity. It also is good for bone health, the the immune system, the GI tract function, even light exercise like walking is super good for prevention of disease. There is a recent study published in Sweden that found that physical activity added years to our lives. And well, it's not only about living longer, but it's also important, adding quality to those years that we have left and exercise definitely helps with that. The only benefit that we acquire is improving our mental health. It reduces stress. It increases the production of the natural endorphins that we have. You know, it'd be certainly feel do the hormones. So includes depression and surgery. People who have issues falling asleep or staying asleep or interrupted sleep patterns, benefit from exercise as well.
The older group of benefits is about reduction of full risk. You know, that as we get older, we are more prone to falling and this can lead to serious consequences. You know, if we get a broken bone or if we bleed inside the brain, then that could be life changing. Exercise will help us reduce our risk of falling. The fourth great benefit, and I think that everybody will get excited about hearing is that it improves brain function. A lot of my patients or caregivers ask me about prescribing something that will improve memory, so well for me, the answer is simple exercise, a exercise routine. And even for people who have or any kind of dementia, exercising is good and helps to slow down the progression into more severe stages. The sixth great benefit is social engagement. I know that we are living extraordinary times and well we are trying to do social distancing, and that's why I had to move these benefits kind of to the bottom of my five top list, but still, you know, engaging on group exercise, enrolling in the gym, getting to interact with people, make exercise even more fun. And well, this is the benefit of exercise that will right now is not so important as the other four are.
Host: Yeah, we definitely do live in challenging times, as you said, I'm so glad you brought up all of those other reasons. I know that when I think about exercise it's for one reason preventing disease and staying healthy, the first thing that you mentioned, that's clearly important to me, but I hadn't really considered the implications of improved mental health, which is super important as we grow old, reducing fall risk. Yes, definitely. Oh my goodness. When you said it could actually help with my sleep. That's great. I like that news because I'm having challenges doing that dementia, social engagements, all great stuff that I don't think we think about normally when we're considering adding exercise or continuing to exercise as we grow old, I do want to ask you though about the more physical aspect of things I have heard that we lose muscle mass. A little bit of muscle mass is lost every year after the age of 25, which for me was a few more than 25 years ago. If we're not strength training, can you tell us more about the muscle mass we're losing every day?
Dr. Pinto Miranda: Yeah. And also I relate to that feeling of disappointment when I was in medical school and learned the same thing. And that was like 15 years ago that we are kind of gaining weight and gaining muscle mass up to age 25 or 30 years old. And then we start losing muscle mass. This is something that we call age related, muscle loss. And of course this gets more accelerated if we become inactive. So it's estimated that if we do not exercise regularly, then we lose around 5% of our muscle mass every decade. When we are in our eighties, there is significant muscle mass loss that can make us feel fatigued all the time, which is kind of a vicious cycle because we will feel then it started to get to move, starting to exercise at that level. At that point in our life becomes more difficult then.
Host: And as you said, the more sedentary our lives will be, the more of a challenge as well. So definitely I need to hit the gym more obviously, but of course it's a challenge to hit the gym. As you mentioned in the challenging times we live in. So maybe I'll end with a question that is something that everyone's probably asking right now is where should we start? Especially those of us, who've not really been terribly active. And now we're in the last half of a century that that's us. What should someone like myself be doing? Where should I start?
Dr. Pinto Miranda: I would like to first say that for us, there are patients, you are actually advancer. We take pride of taking care of people that are. By the way, last week I celebrated my second patient reaching 100 years old, these year, and this is huge. So yes, it was a huge, I mean, it is a huge thing. Going back to your question, it really doesn't matter the age. It's never too late to get fit. The first thing I will recommend is speak with your doctor. He or she may recommend the right type of exercise for you or even prescribe physical therapy home exercise program until which activities you should avoid based on your health conditions. So I would say he or she needs a starting point, but as a general rule, if we have been in that for many years, walking is actually the right exercise to start is not expensive at all, can be done anywhere. I will recommend walking in the morning around eight or nine because here in Arkansas, the climate is too hot.
So, we would avoid excessive heat outdoors. And we do not get dehydrated then. But if getting out of home is not feasible because of patient factors like we are not early risers or we are homebound, which means that getting out of home requires extraordinary effort, even with the help of another person or for reasons that are not due to patient factors like reciting in a neighborhood that is perceived not to be safe or no family, or it's not possible to keep social distancing. Then self exercising at home is the best option, walking on a treadmill, if getting a treadmill is possible, but also doing simple activities like walking to get the mail, walking from the bedroom, to the living room, bathroom, for a number of times in the morning, you need the, and then in the afternoon. Things that many of my patients have found helpful in these challenging times is actually doing routines by watching YouTube videos. Indeed, I send many of my patients linked with 15 minute workouts, which could be like moving many muscular groups, or it could be aiming a certain group of muscles or balance exercises or exercises. It depends on what are the most pressing needs each patient has that the options are plenty. So there are indeed patients of mine that have released their two glasses be assumed. So they have like a personal trainer, but I mean, it's not in person training, it's actually via zoom. So I'm glad that technology makes exercising at home feasible in these challenging times.
Host: Yeah. I'm excited about that too. Although now I think I've lost my excuse when I tell my wife that I really can't exercise because of the virus. She's going to say, according to the Doctor, you can. Well, Doctor, thank you for all of your advice today. You've given me plenty of options. I appreciate it.
Dr. Pinto Miranda: It was my pleasure.
Host: Again, that was Dr. Veronica Pinto Miranda, a geriatrician at UAMS, thank you for listening to this episode of UAMS Health Talk, the podcast by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. I am Evo Terra. If you found this episode helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check our entire library of past episodes, which you can find at uamshealth.com.
Evo Terra: Not long ago, I crossed over the half century mark, as I reflect on the health challenges faced by my parents and my grandparents, after they reached this age. I'm looking for options, so I have a different outcome. To help me better understand, today I'm chatting with Dr. Veronica Pinto Miranda at Geriatrician at UAMS. This is UAMS Health Talk, the podcast by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. I'm Evo Terra. Dr. Pinto Miranda. I'll start by asking what I think is a simple question. Why is it important for us to stay active as we age?
Dr. Pinto Miranda: There are many reasons I would say that five are probably the most important ones and the ones that most people will relate to, the first one is that it preserves good health and prevents disease. And there are plenty of studies, but it's not only for cardiovascular conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, obesity. It also is good for bone health, the the immune system, the GI tract function, even light exercise like walking is super good for prevention of disease. There is a recent study published in Sweden that found that physical activity added years to our lives. And well, it's not only about living longer, but it's also important, adding quality to those years that we have left and exercise definitely helps with that. The only benefit that we acquire is improving our mental health. It reduces stress. It increases the production of the natural endorphins that we have. You know, it'd be certainly feel do the hormones. So includes depression and surgery. People who have issues falling asleep or staying asleep or interrupted sleep patterns, benefit from exercise as well.
The older group of benefits is about reduction of full risk. You know, that as we get older, we are more prone to falling and this can lead to serious consequences. You know, if we get a broken bone or if we bleed inside the brain, then that could be life changing. Exercise will help us reduce our risk of falling. The fourth great benefit, and I think that everybody will get excited about hearing is that it improves brain function. A lot of my patients or caregivers ask me about prescribing something that will improve memory, so well for me, the answer is simple exercise, a exercise routine. And even for people who have or any kind of dementia, exercising is good and helps to slow down the progression into more severe stages. The sixth great benefit is social engagement. I know that we are living extraordinary times and well we are trying to do social distancing, and that's why I had to move these benefits kind of to the bottom of my five top list, but still, you know, engaging on group exercise, enrolling in the gym, getting to interact with people, make exercise even more fun. And well, this is the benefit of exercise that will right now is not so important as the other four are.
Host: Yeah, we definitely do live in challenging times, as you said, I'm so glad you brought up all of those other reasons. I know that when I think about exercise it's for one reason preventing disease and staying healthy, the first thing that you mentioned, that's clearly important to me, but I hadn't really considered the implications of improved mental health, which is super important as we grow old, reducing fall risk. Yes, definitely. Oh my goodness. When you said it could actually help with my sleep. That's great. I like that news because I'm having challenges doing that dementia, social engagements, all great stuff that I don't think we think about normally when we're considering adding exercise or continuing to exercise as we grow old, I do want to ask you though about the more physical aspect of things I have heard that we lose muscle mass. A little bit of muscle mass is lost every year after the age of 25, which for me was a few more than 25 years ago. If we're not strength training, can you tell us more about the muscle mass we're losing every day?
Dr. Pinto Miranda: Yeah. And also I relate to that feeling of disappointment when I was in medical school and learned the same thing. And that was like 15 years ago that we are kind of gaining weight and gaining muscle mass up to age 25 or 30 years old. And then we start losing muscle mass. This is something that we call age related, muscle loss. And of course this gets more accelerated if we become inactive. So it's estimated that if we do not exercise regularly, then we lose around 5% of our muscle mass every decade. When we are in our eighties, there is significant muscle mass loss that can make us feel fatigued all the time, which is kind of a vicious cycle because we will feel then it started to get to move, starting to exercise at that level. At that point in our life becomes more difficult then.
Host: And as you said, the more sedentary our lives will be, the more of a challenge as well. So definitely I need to hit the gym more obviously, but of course it's a challenge to hit the gym. As you mentioned in the challenging times we live in. So maybe I'll end with a question that is something that everyone's probably asking right now is where should we start? Especially those of us, who've not really been terribly active. And now we're in the last half of a century that that's us. What should someone like myself be doing? Where should I start?
Dr. Pinto Miranda: I would like to first say that for us, there are patients, you are actually advancer. We take pride of taking care of people that are. By the way, last week I celebrated my second patient reaching 100 years old, these year, and this is huge. So yes, it was a huge, I mean, it is a huge thing. Going back to your question, it really doesn't matter the age. It's never too late to get fit. The first thing I will recommend is speak with your doctor. He or she may recommend the right type of exercise for you or even prescribe physical therapy home exercise program until which activities you should avoid based on your health conditions. So I would say he or she needs a starting point, but as a general rule, if we have been in that for many years, walking is actually the right exercise to start is not expensive at all, can be done anywhere. I will recommend walking in the morning around eight or nine because here in Arkansas, the climate is too hot.
So, we would avoid excessive heat outdoors. And we do not get dehydrated then. But if getting out of home is not feasible because of patient factors like we are not early risers or we are homebound, which means that getting out of home requires extraordinary effort, even with the help of another person or for reasons that are not due to patient factors like reciting in a neighborhood that is perceived not to be safe or no family, or it's not possible to keep social distancing. Then self exercising at home is the best option, walking on a treadmill, if getting a treadmill is possible, but also doing simple activities like walking to get the mail, walking from the bedroom, to the living room, bathroom, for a number of times in the morning, you need the, and then in the afternoon. Things that many of my patients have found helpful in these challenging times is actually doing routines by watching YouTube videos. Indeed, I send many of my patients linked with 15 minute workouts, which could be like moving many muscular groups, or it could be aiming a certain group of muscles or balance exercises or exercises. It depends on what are the most pressing needs each patient has that the options are plenty. So there are indeed patients of mine that have released their two glasses be assumed. So they have like a personal trainer, but I mean, it's not in person training, it's actually via zoom. So I'm glad that technology makes exercising at home feasible in these challenging times.
Host: Yeah. I'm excited about that too. Although now I think I've lost my excuse when I tell my wife that I really can't exercise because of the virus. She's going to say, according to the Doctor, you can. Well, Doctor, thank you for all of your advice today. You've given me plenty of options. I appreciate it.
Dr. Pinto Miranda: It was my pleasure.
Host: Again, that was Dr. Veronica Pinto Miranda, a geriatrician at UAMS, thank you for listening to this episode of UAMS Health Talk, the podcast by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. I am Evo Terra. If you found this episode helpful, please share it on your social channels and be sure to check our entire library of past episodes, which you can find at uamshealth.com.
