HEALTH WATCH

If the 10,000 men of Harvard want victory later in life, they should continue to exercise after graduation, according to a study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Based on a survey of 10,269 male Harvard graduates, Ralph S. Paffenbarger in a Stanford School of Public Health professor of epidemiology, concluded that men ages 45 to 54 who participate in sports live an average of 10 months longer than their sedentary counterparts.

But should we all thank four years of great weather and Dining Services food? Or can anyone reap the benefits of exercise.

According to Paffenbarger, who is a former professor of epidemiology at Harvard's School of Public Health, the results generated from Harvard alumni could be generalized to the entire male population.

Paffenbarger said in an interview yesterday that Harvard alumni who participated were "bright, educated, capable, accomplished, successful, affluent, health oriented, with a higher than average lifestyle.

But procrastination diminishes rewards of increased exercise. According the study, men who wait until they're from 55 to 64 to start exercising gain nine months; those 65 to 74 gain six.

And slow pokes who wait to play sports until they are 75 to 84 on average live only two months longer.

These results seem like small gains, but other studies have shown that ever total elimination of cancer would only about two years to the average lifespan.

Paffenbarger says that exercise it an older age, not necessarily that when younger, is what's important. The benefits of early exercise is lost by age 50 if exercise is not continued.

The original study of 53,000 Harvard and University of Pennsylvania graduates began in 1960. The study has demonstrated the link between high blood pressure and heart disease, and also the worrisome finding that coffee and cigarettes consumed by students today equals peptic ulcers tomorrow.

Before deciding to use information from graduates of Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania, Paffenbarger also examined other schools such as the University of California, the University of Wisconsin, the United States Military Academy at West Point, and the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis.

The availability of medical data and academic and extracurricular activity records from the students' college years made Harvard a good choice, Paffenbarger said.

Participants in the study were given physicals while they were in college, and filled out questionnaires about their lifestyle approximately once every seven years. Death rates are measured through alumni records and death certificates.

Former jocks with beer bellies may win a reprieve, since exercise may not be the only factor in the increased lifespans. Genetic factors and healthy food may also play a large role in making up for the move from playing to watching football.

The primary benefit of exercise seemed to be the prevention of heart attacks. Participation in varsity or intramural athletics reduced cardiovascular disease, the study said.

The study also found that men who quit smoking add over a year and a half to their lifespan, and those who in addition begin exercising add almost four years.

Active men lived longer as well as better lives, with less incidence of disbetes and clinical depression.

Now all that's left is for an intrepid researcher to start measuring the benefits of exercise for women.