Ralph Paffenbarger
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Ralph S. Paffenbarger, Jr. (October 21, 1922 – July 9, 2007,
Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
) was an epidemiologist,
ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...
er, and professor at both
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
School of Medicine and Harvard University School of Public Health. Paffenbarger was internationally renowned for his classic study on the improvement in
longevity The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always d ...
through regular lifetime physical activity, which confirmed prior evidence that more physically active people reduce their risk of
heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
and live longer. He published hundreds of papers on the relationship between exercise and longevity, and helped write the recommendations to exercise in the United States Surgeon General's ''Report on Physical Activity and Health'', published in 1996.


Early life and education

Paffenbarger grew up in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, the son of an Ohio State University faculty member. Paffenbarger earned his MD degree from Northwestern University Medical School during World War II, and his DrPH degree in epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University.


Career

Early in his career, Paffenbarger engaged in polio research as an officer in the United States Public Health Service, focusing on the transmission and pathogenesis of polio. In the mid 1950s, he shifted to chronic disease epidemiology and the search for causes of
mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
es associated with childbearing, site-specific cancers, and cardiovascular-hypertensive-metabolic diseases. After being urged by then President
Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
's physician to investigate heart disease, he began his landmark study of the relations between physical activity, chronic disease, and longevity. Paffenbarger spent time at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley, where he served as adjunct professor of epidemiology, before joining the faculty at the
Stanford School of Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...
in 1977. He became emeritus in 1993 in health research and policy at Stanford, after which he returned to UC Berkeley to join the department of human biodynamics. Paffenbarger died at the age of 84, at his home in
Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
on July 9, 2007 of heart failure.


Research

Over the course of almost five decades, Paffenbarger conducted some of largest and earliest scientific studies in epidemiology, which proved that increased exercise lowers the chance of death from heart disease. The study used periodic questionnaires to chronicle, over several decades, the personal characteristics, physical-activity levels, illnesses and deaths of over 50,000 college alumni. He continued to publish research findings from his studies until his own death, in 2007, at the age of 84, after a long battle with congestive heart disease.


College Alumni Health Study

In 1960, Paffenbarger began the landmark College Alumni Health Study, investigating the exercise habits of over 50,000 University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University alumni. The results of this study confirmed that more physically active people have a lower risk of coronary heart disease and live longer. Paffenbarger's
Harvard alumni health study The Harvard alumni health study is a cohort study focusing on the effect of exercise on coronary artery disease, strokes, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, obesity and mortality Mortality is the state of being mortal, or susceptible to death; ...
, of 17,000 male alumni who graduated between 1916 and 1950, found that when the alumni were in their forties, vigorous exercise predicted greater longevity and lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and that so long as energy expenditure was equivalent, it was irrelevant whether the exercise was carried out in a single session or broken up. The study also found that as the energy expended increased, the risk of heart disease decreased. Those who remained very active into midlife stood a much better chance of surviving than moderately exercising and inactive alumni. The College Alumni Health Study’s preliminary findings suggested that men burning 2,0 or more calories a week significantly lowered their risk of death from heart disease compared to more sedentary peers. Paffenbarger found that, among the 640 men in the study who had died of cardiovascular disease, the death rate for the most sedentary was nearly twice that for the most active. Regular exercise, the study also confirmed in the 1990s, reduced coronary death rates by 25 percent to 33 percent.


Running long

In 1967, when he was 45, Paffenbarger took up competitive running, and finished more than 150
marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...
and
ultramarathon An ultramarathon, also called ultra distance or ultra running, is any footrace longer than the traditional marathon length of . Various distances are raced competitively, from the shortest common ultramarathon of to over . 50k and 100k are bot ...
events. He ran the
Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...
22 times and the
Western States Endurance Run The Western States Endurance Run, known commonly as the Western States 100, is a 100.2-mile (161 km) ultramarathon that takes place on California's Sierra Nevada Mountains trails each year on the last full weekend of June. The race starts a ...
five times.


Recognition

In 1996, Paffenbarger was a co-recipient of the first
Olympic Prize for Sports Sciences Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
for his work showing the link between physical activity and lowered risk of heart disease.


Publications

* Paffenbarger, R. S., Hyde R.T., Wing, A.L., Hsieh, C.C., 'Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni', '' New England Journal of Medicine'' 1986;314;605-13. . * Ralph Paffenbarger, Eric Olsen. ''LifeFit: An Effective Exercise Program for Optimal Health and a Longer Life'', (1996) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, . * Paffenbarger, R. S.; Lee, I. M., 'A natural history of athleticism, health and longevity', ''
Journal of Sports Sciences The Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors (CIEHF – formerly The Ergonomics Society) is a United Kingdom-based professional society for ergonomists, human factors specialists, and those involved in user-centred design. History The ...
'' (1998) * Lee, I. M., Paffenbarger, R.S., 'How much physical activity is optimal for health? Methodological considerations', ''Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport'' (1996) * Lee, I. M., Paffenbarger, R.S., 'Do physical activity and physical fitness avert premature mortality?' ''Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews'' (1996) * Paffenbarger, R. S., Lee, I. M., 'Physical activity and fitness for health and longevity', ''Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport'' (1996) * Blair, S. N., Wells, C. L., Weathers, R.D., Paffenbarger, R.S., 'Chronic disease: The physical activity dose-response controversy' (book chapter), ''Advances in Exercise Adherence'' (1994) * Paffenbarger, R. S., Hyde, R. T., Dow, A., 'Health benefits of physical activity' (book chapter), ''Benefits of Leisure'' (1991)


References


External links

* 'The College Alumni Health Study - A Précis'
Stanford.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paffenbarger, Ralph 1922 births 2007 deaths Sportspeople from Santa Fe, New Mexico American public health doctors Harvard University faculty Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health alumni American male ultramarathon runners Feinberg School of Medicine alumni People from Columbus, Ohio Stanford University School of Medicine faculty