thwart
09-12-2013, 06:36 AM
The takeaways would seem to be that 'excessive' exercise is actually good for you... and that PEDs don't have any life-shortening effects.
AMSTERDAM — Elite French cyclists participating in the Tour de France over the past 60 years have a significantly lower rate of mortality than French men in the general population, according to the results of a new study [1].
In evaluating the overall mortality rates of French cyclists who rode in the prestigious event between 1947 and 2012, investigators found the cyclists had a 41% lower mortality rate than men in France and that this lower mortality rate was consistent over time, including periods of reported heavy performance-enhancing-drug use. The lower rate was significant for deaths resulting from cancer and cardiovascular causes, and while it wasn't statistically significant for other causes of death, the mortality trends all favored the cyclists.
Presenting the results here today at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2013 Congress, senior investigator Dr Xavier Jouven (Paris Descartes University, France) said that among the cyclists who rode in the Tour de France from 1947 to 1951, a period accounting for more than 60% of the deaths in the analysis, the elite athletes lived six years longer than men in the general population.
Jouven said the results, which are published concurrently in the European Heart Journal to coincide with the ESC hot-line session, back up his belief that the general population can benefit from exercise that goes beyond a mild walk in the park.
AMSTERDAM — Elite French cyclists participating in the Tour de France over the past 60 years have a significantly lower rate of mortality than French men in the general population, according to the results of a new study [1].
In evaluating the overall mortality rates of French cyclists who rode in the prestigious event between 1947 and 2012, investigators found the cyclists had a 41% lower mortality rate than men in France and that this lower mortality rate was consistent over time, including periods of reported heavy performance-enhancing-drug use. The lower rate was significant for deaths resulting from cancer and cardiovascular causes, and while it wasn't statistically significant for other causes of death, the mortality trends all favored the cyclists.
Presenting the results here today at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2013 Congress, senior investigator Dr Xavier Jouven (Paris Descartes University, France) said that among the cyclists who rode in the Tour de France from 1947 to 1951, a period accounting for more than 60% of the deaths in the analysis, the elite athletes lived six years longer than men in the general population.
Jouven said the results, which are published concurrently in the European Heart Journal to coincide with the ESC hot-line session, back up his belief that the general population can benefit from exercise that goes beyond a mild walk in the park.