This simple activity can help you live longer

While some run to boost their stamina, others do it to maintain overall well-being. But now there is one more reason -- running is linked to significantly lower the risk of death from any cause.

The study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine stated if more people took up running -- and they wouldn't have to run far or fast -- there would likely be substantial improvements in population health and longevity.

It's not clear how good running is staving off the risk of death from any cause and particularly from cardiovascular disease and cancer, researchers said. Nor is it clear how much running a person needs to do to reap these potential benefits, nor whether upping the frequency, duration, and pace -- in other words, increasing the 'dose'-- might be even more advantageous.

To try and find out the same, researchers systematically reviewed relevant published research, conference presentations, and doctoral theses and dissertations in a broad range of academic databases.

They looked for studies on the association between running/jogging and the risk of death from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. They found 14 suitable studies, involving 2,32,149 people, whose health had been tracked for between 5.5 and 35 years. During this time, 25,951 of the study participants died.

When the study data were pooled, any amount of running was associated with a 27 per cent lower risk of death from all causes for both sexes, compared with no running.

And it was associated with a 30 per cent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, and a 23 per cent lower risk of death from cancer.

Even small 'doses' -- for example, once weekly or less, lasting less than 50 minutes each time, and at a speed below 6 miles (8 km) an hour, still seemed to be associated with significant health/longevity benefits.

So running for 25 minutes less than the recommended weekly duration of vigorous physical activity could reduce the risk of death. This makes running a potentially good option for those whose main obstacle to doing enough exercise is lack of time, suggest the researchers.

But upping 'the dose' wasn't associated with a further lowering of the risk of death from any cause, the analysis showed. "Increased rates of participation in running, regardless of its dose, would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity," researchers stated. This is an observational study, and as such, can't establish a cause.