Exercising regularly is touted as the key to living a long and healthy life. But few studies have delved into comparisons in longevity between those who engage in vigorous physical activity and those who lead primarily sedentary lifestyles as a result of their lifetime occupation.
Now, Naoyuki Hayashi and Kazuhiro Kezuka from Tokyo Tech's Institute of Liberal Arts have conducted A study unusual that challenges the idea that vigorous daily exercise is positively correlated with longevity.
They compared the lifespans of four groups of Japanese traditional arts artists by examining data from a total of 699 living and dead professional male artists whose birth and death records are publicly available. They hypothesized that kabuki actors would lead longer lives due to the high level of physical activity involved in their stage performances, compared to Sado, Rakugo and Nagauta practitioners, known for performing tea ceremonies, telling comical stories and play musical instruments while seated, respectively.
Intense exercise does not necessarily extend life
By analyzing longevity data from professional Japanese traditional artists, researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) found that kabuki actors, known for their vigorous movements, had surprisingly shorter lifespans compared to other traditional artists. who lead largely sedentary lifestyles. The results suggest that strenuous work-related exercise throughout life does not necessarily prolong longevity.
Using a method called Kaplan–Meier analysis, found that, contrary to expectations, the lifespans of kabuki actors were shorter than those of the other three types of traditional performers.
The researchers postulate that one reason for the shorter lifespan of kabuki performers could be that the excessive resistance training and physical activity overwhelm the beneficial aspects of regular physical exercise. Another reason could be that in the past, kabuki actors often used oshiroi (white powder used for makeup) containing lead, which carries a significant health risk. The use of oshiroi was only banned in Japan in 1934.
The researchers note that their study is not without its limitations. For example, the data only looked at male-dominated professions and therefore does not give an idea of the longevity of the entire population, including women. More work would be needed to assess the optimal amount of exercise to protect health. The possibly beneficial effects of 'non-exercising' activities such as talking, singing and playing musical instruments would also need further exploration.
Overall, the researchers say their study represents "a novel way to extract insights from publicly available data" Y "contributes to the global trend of addressing reproducibility in science«.