Abstract
Our research center started a promoting-walking activity program in the Yurin district of Kyoto in 2008, where 40–50 participants living an independent life (mean age: 75 years) were lent a pedometer, and an anti-aging medical checkup was conducted annually with functional age assessments: muscle, vascular, neural, hormone, and bone age (a project of Kenpo Juku). Students (22–23 years) visited them once a month to collect information of participants’ walking and also to encourage them to walk in face-to-face meetings. The number of average steps in members (7,000–8,000 steps/day) was approximately twice as many as that of persons close to their age. The comparative study regarding self-supported degrees (persons of independence: Kenpo Juku members, persons requiring assistance, and persons requiring nursing care) in 2010 exhibited that persons of higher degrees of independence stayed young in neural age and maintained cognitive functions. A report on amyloid β 40/42 ratio (2019) substantiated this. It was suggested that a third had a low ratio and would maintain amyloid β clearance. A survey conducted from 2012 to 2014 revealed that the participants had low skin autofluorescence and were a group with weak glycative stress. Glycative stress refers to a condition in which excess aldehydes are easily produced in the body, making body proteins highly susceptible to conversion into advanced glycation endoproducts (AGEs). Trends in data between 2008–2022 of the long-term observation cases were shown regarding functional ages. Survey on medical expenses (2023) indicated that medical expenses of Kenpo Juku members were mostly lower than the national average. The face-to-face encouragement from the students increased the members' motivation to continue walking and led to the long-term continuation of the exercise habit, which may help prevent the aging of functional age.
