Seniors who ride have a much better immune system
Older cyclists benefit from better protection against infections, according to study
Good news for older bike riders: riding can help bolster your immune system. A study at King’s College London showed that doing plenty of cardio in your later years can prevent the immune system from declining. It also protects you against infections.
Scientists studied 125 long-distance cyclists who were order, and found that their immune system resembled that of 20-year-olds.
“It has wide-ranging benefits for the body, the mind, for our muscles and our immune system.” Prof Norman Lazarus, said. “If exercise was a pill, everyone would be taking it.”
The study which was published in Aging Cell, delved into the fact that our immune system declines by about two to three per cent a year after we turn 20. This is one of the main reasons why older people can be more vulnerable to infections.
“Because the cyclists have the immune system of a 20-year-old rather than a 70- or 80-year-old, it means they have added protection against all these issues,” Prof Janet Lord, director of the Institute of Inflammation and Aging, at the University of Birmingham, said.
The reason for the bolstered immune system lay in the increased amount of T-cells. T-cells A T cell is a one of the white blood cells of the immune system, and is crucial with the adaptive immune response.Basically, the team discovered that the older cyclists produced the same amount T-cells as adults in their 20s. A similarly aged person who did not exercise produced much fewer.
Additionally, the study asserts that regular cardio in old age can also help with people who take vaccines against the flu. Those who exercised responded much better to vaccines, and thus better protected against ailments such as the flu.
