Study suggests running lowers the risk of premature death

Researchers in an article titled Running as a Key Lifestyle Medicine for Longevity, published in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases reported that runners have a 25 to 40 per cent reduced risk of premature mortality.

The researchers — who hail from Harvard Medical School, Iowa State University, Hartford Hospital, University of South Carolina and University of Queensland School of Medicine — noted that running protects against cardiovascular disease and cancer, two leading causes of death in developed countries.

“Running may be the most cost-effective lifestyle medicine from (a) public health perspective,” said the American researchers.

If you pull on a bathing suit every day instead of a pair of running shoes, you’re probably asking how this boost in longevity from running compares to swimming laps, among other forms of exercise.

Given roughly the same amount of physical activity, the risk of an early death was reduced by 27 per cent among runners who didn’t do any other type of exercise, versus a 12 per cent reduction in mortality among exercisers who didn’t run.

Read the full report at the Montreal Gazette