A Guide form the National Institute on Aging , the cornerstone of the Institute s ongoing campaign to encourage older people to exercise. The Guide is based on scientific evidence and is intended to help people design their own exercise program. To date, the Institute has distributed over 230,000 copies. Lifestyle changes can also be effective in reducing the risk of major disease. While blood pressure medications can substantially reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death and major cause of disability in the elderly, they can also cause adverse drug interactions and other side effects.
Medications can also be very costly.
People who participated in the trial had previously been successful in controlling their blood pressure with a single antihypertensive medication. Loss of bone mass due to osteoporosis results in millions of fractures each year in the U.S., causing substantial pain, dysfunction, and death in later life. The NIA and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases collaborate on research to prevent osteoporosis, including studies of hormone replacement toward this end. These studies suggest that even very low-dose estrogen supplements may lower the risk of postmenopausal fractures in men and women without causing adverse effects sometimes associated with estrogen therapies. NIA investigators at a Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center are conducting preliminary clinical research to investigate the impact of low-dose estrogen supplementation on markers of bone strength and turnover.