Today, nearly one in three adults is a family carer. This study from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver) suggests that family caregivers, subject in their care, although volunteers, to daily stress, practice daily exercise. Exercise can reduce stress and improve cellular health, and is a valuable way, especially for caregivers, to restore their quality of life as well.
One in three adults provide unpaid care for another person. Women are on the front line and provide more care than men at 137 minutes per day vs. 110 minutes per day, respectively. Grandmothers are mobilized and spend a lot of time caring for very young children, from birth to 4 years old. 20% of volunteer care is dedicated to the elderly, ie an estimated duration of 15 minutes per day, the caregiver possibly being the spouse. And this care for older people is more likely to be provided by other older people, rather than by adult children.
This study by Eli Puterman, professor of kinesiology at the University of British Columbia shows that exercising at least 3 times a week for 6 months reduced stress in a group of family caregivers. On a biological level, the study even finds that exercise had the effect of lengthening their chromosomes, which suggests a slowing down of cellular aging in these caregivers.
Caregiver makes frequent lifestyle changes and abandons healthy behaviors: " We need to design interventions that help caregivers take care of their bodies and minds and give them the support they need to be able to continue providing help and caring for their loved ones ", writes the author: "What caregivers need is help in adopting a healthy lifestyle, because it is one of the first things you give up when you become a family caregiver”.
The study is conducted with 68 otherwise physically inactive caregivers of family members with Alzheimer's disease and dementia who report high levels of stress. The participants were divided into 2 groups, the first group asked to practice 40 minutes of aerobic exercises 3 to 5 per week, the second group not to change their level of activity. Members of the intervention group had free access to a gym and a sports coach for weekly sessions. In the end, 81% carried out at least 120 minutes of exercise per week for the duration of the study. At the end of the study, the analysis shows that:
- the caregivers in the exercise group not only improved their cardiorespiratory fitness, reduced their body mass index and slimmed down their waistline, but they also reported lower levels of perceived stress.
- At the cellular level, the researchers observe in these helpers longer telomeres in the white blood cells. Or the telomeres which protect the ends of the chromosomes and thus delay cellular senescence. Longer telomeres have already been documented as markers of reduced cellular aging and the risk of future health problems, such as cardiovascular disease.
Thus the study underlines that among carers, a particularly exposed and vulnerable group, subjected to high and chronic stress, exercise leads to a beneficial effect both against this stress but also against "telomeric aging" and cellular aging.
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