Any amount of running is linked to a significantly lower risk of death from any cause, a new study shows. If more people started running — and they didn't have to run far or fast — there would likely be substantial improvements in the health and longevity of the population, the researchers conclude.
It's not clear how good running is at preventing the risk of death from any cause, especially cardiovascular disease and cancer, the researchers say. It's also not clear how much one has to run to reap these potential benefits, nor whether increasing the frequency, duration and pace – in other words, increasing the 'dose' might be even more beneficial.
To find out, the researchers systematically reviewed relevant published research, conference presentations, and dissertations across a wide range of academic databases. They looked for studies on the link between running/jogging and the risk of all-cause death, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
They found 14 suitable studies, involving 232,149 people, whose health had been monitored between 5.5 and 35 years. During this time, 25,951 of the study participants died.
When the study data was pooled, any amount of running was associated with a 27% lower risk of all-cause death for both sexes, compared with no running. And it was associated with a 30% lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 23% lower risk of death from cancer.
Even small 'doses' – for example once a week or less, lasting less than 50 minutes each time, and traveling at a speed of less than 5 miles per hour – still seemed to be associated with significant health/longevity benefits.
So walking 25 minutes shorter than the recommended weekly duration of vigorous physical activity can reduce the risk of death. This makes running a potentially good option for those whose biggest obstacle to getting enough exercise is lack of time, the researchers suggest.
But increasing 'the dose' was not associated with a further reduction in the risk of death from any cause, the analysis found.
This is an observational study and as such cannot determine a cause. And the researchers caution that the number of included studies was small and their methods varied significantly, which may have influenced the results.
Nevertheless, they suggest that any amount of running is better than none, concluding:“Increased participation rates in running, regardless of dose, would likely lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity.”
