Harvard researcher to give presentation on senior health at Iowa State

Iowa State University will be hosting a Hilton Chair Lecture where I-Min Lee, a researcher from the Harvard Medical School, will explain how physical activity can decrease chronic illness and increase longevity.

According to the most up-to-date statistics given by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately half of all adults, which equates to about 117 million people, have at least one chronic health condition.

“People often think of exercise as it relates to weight loss, but the benefits of physical activity are far greater,” Iowa State Professor of Kinesiology Warren Franke said. “Dr. Lee’s research clearly demonstrates that effect. Her work also shows that any activity is better than nothing. People don’t realize how little it takes—it doesn’t have to be ‘exercise’ to be beneficial.”

Lee and her colleagues published a paper in the journal Lancet in 2012 stating that the reduction of physical inactivity by 25 percent could lead to the prevention of one to three million deaths a year globally.

Lee’s free public presentation, called “Physical Activity: Wonder Drug for Chronic Disease Prevention,” will be held in the Benton Auditorium in the Scheman Building at 7 p.m Thursday.