Older people can significantly reduce their chances of heart disease and strokes by taking just a moderate amount of exercise, researchers claim.
A US study focused on more than 100 adults aged 55 to 75, half of whom were given a six-month programme of supervised exercises three times a week.
The researchers found that walking, cycling and weightlifting all helped reduce metabolic syndrome - the potentially deadly mix of risk factors that can make a person more likely to develop heart disease, diabetes or stroke.
These risk factors include high blood pressure, excess fat around the abdomen, elevated blood sugar levels and abnormal cholesterol levels.
Up to a quarter of adults in the UK are estimated to have one or more of the risk factors for developing metabolic syndrome.
The latest study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was said to be the first to look at the role of exercise in treating metabolic syndrome in older people.
The researchers measured the various risk factors, body fat and fitness levels of the exercising group and the control group, who were simply given a booklet encouraging increased activity for health benefits.
The exercise group saw their aerobic fitness increase by 16% and strength fitness increase by 17%. Fat in the abdominal region was also reduced by 20%, while among those in the control group there was either no or significantly less improvement.
At the start of the study 43% of the participants had metabolic syndrome.
After the six-month programme, those in the exercising group saw no new cases of the syndrome and the condition had been resolved in nine people.
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