The increasingly fragile financial state of the NHS doesn't bode¹ well for the future care of our ageing population. So it is fortunate that research says the need for more social care isn't inevitable².

英国国民健康体系的财务状况越来越糟，对于未来关怀老龄化人口来说，这并不是一个好兆头。幸运的是，研究表明，更多的社会关怀需求是可以避免的。

NICE stated in 2015 that "disability, dementia and frailty⁴ can be prevented or delayed".

英国国家卫生与保健研究所于2015年表示，"残疾、痴呆和身体虚弱是可以预防或延迟的"。

This remarkable⁵ statement wasn't noticed at the time. It hinges on keeping people able to manage their daily living by washing, dressing⁶, feeding themselves and shopping. How could we achieve this elusive⁷ aim? Simple. By keeping people fit as they get older. Just because you get old needn't mean you lose fitness.

当时人们并没有留意这一了不起的声明。它的着眼点在于让人们洗衣、穿衣、自己吃饭和购物来维持他们管理日常生活的能力。如何实现这一界限模糊的目标呢？很简单。让老年人保持身体健康。因为年龄增长并不意味着健康衰退。

The problem is that people with long-term medical conditions often mistakenly believe that exercise will make things worse. This is not true, and they need to improve the four aspects of fitness: strength, stamina⁸, suppleness⁹ and skill.

问题是长期患病的人往往错误的以为锻炼只会让他们的身体状况更糟。事实并非如此，他们需要锻炼这四个方面：力量、耐力、柔韧和技巧。

Evidence is growing that maintaining these components¹⁰ of fitness improves cognitive¹¹ ability and reduces the risk of dementia, not only in midlife but also in the 70s and 80s. The physical, mental, and social benefits of exercise can help enable people to live more independently and more autonomously¹². And strength and balance training cuts the risk of falls.

越来越多的证据表明，保持这四个方面的健康有助于提高中年人和七八十岁老人的认知能力、降低他们患痴呆的风险。锻炼带来的身心健康和社会益处有助于人们更独立、更自主的生活。而力量和平衡训练则降低了人们跌倒的风险。

The good news is that at any age and with any combination of health problems, exercise provides, in the words of an important report from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, "the miracle cure."

好消息是，在任何年龄段和各种各样的健康问题中，引用皇家医学院在一次重要报告中的话来说，锻炼将"奇迹般地治疗"一切。

Exercise may reverse the decline and keep a person above the threshold for needing social care.

锻炼可以扭转衰退，让人们不用被社会关怀。

People in their 70s with below average ability (measured as "chair rise" time) who improve this by 25% to the average speed of people in their 60s, reverse a decade of decline. Ten years! There are real improvements in older people's "up and go" times when exercise ranging from walking to high intensity¹³ is started as an intervention¹⁴. Best of all, those who are the most frail³ benefit the most.

低于平均能力（测量的是他们从椅子上站起来的时间）的70多岁老人，他们从椅子上站起来的时间比60多岁时快了25%，这些人的衰老时间延缓了10年。10年啊！当老年人开始锻炼时（从走路到高强度的锻炼不等），他们"起立行走"的时间真的有所提高。最重要的是，那些身体最虚的人获益最多。

We tend to think exercise is for the young while older people should sit back and relax. But we all need physical activity, defined as movement using our muscles that burns calories, including gardening and walking. Exercise is just planned, structured, and repetitive physical activity.

我们倾向于认为锻炼是年轻人的事儿，老年人就应该坐着休息。但我们都需要身体活动，这种活动被定义为运动我们的肌肉、燃烧卡路里，包括园艺和走路。锻炼只是一种有计划、有结构的重复性身体活动。