People who Sit Less Have Longer Telomeres

Sit less to increase the length of telomeres, a new research shows.

Telomeres are the protective caps of chromosomes. For the studies, the researchers examined 49 participants who were in their late 60s. Researchers noted that all the participants were part of a previously reported clinical trial in which half of them had been randomly assigned to customized exercise programs over a period of six months, while the other half served as controls.

According to the study findings, the researchers stated that exercise also improved different risk factors associated with heart disease and stroke. However, sitting for lesser duration seemed to have more impact than exercising in lengthening the telomeres.

The team was able to find a strong connection between reduction in the amount of time spent sitting in the exercise programs and telomere length. "In many countries formal exercise may be increasing, but at the same time people spend more time sitting," researchers wrote in the study. "There is growing concern that not only low physical activity...but probably also sitting and sedentary behavior is an important and new health hazard of our time."

About the limited participants for study, researchers said that  similar research should be conducted on other larger groups. 

But they explained that their findings support other research on the impact of time spent sitting down, and conclude. "We hypothesizes that a reduction in sitting hours is of greater importance than an increase in exercise time for elderly risk individuals," researchers said.

The findings are published in the BMJ-British Medical Journal.