Ralph Paffenbarger

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Ralph S. Paffenbarger, Jr., MD, Phd, is a professor at both Stanford University School of Medicine and Harvard University School of Public Health. A nationally known speaker, Dr. Paffenbarger is renowned for his classic study on the improvement in longevity though regular lifetime physical activity, which confirmed prior evidence that more physically active people reduce their risk of heart disease and live longer.

Paffenbarger earned his MD from Northwestern University Medical School and his PhD, in epidemiology, from the School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

Early in his career, Paffenbarger engaged in polio research as an officer in the United States Public Health Service. Later, when polio was no longer a public health problem, he began his landmark study of the relations between physical activity, chronic disease, and longevity.

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, 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.

[edit] Running long

In 1967, when he was 45, Paffenbarger took up jogging and finished more than 150 marathon and ultramarathon events. He ran the Boston Marathon 22 times and the Western States Endurance Run five times.

[edit] Publications

  • Paffenbarger RS, Hyde RT, Wing AL, Hsieh CC. Physical activity, all-cause mortality, and longevity of college alumni. N Engl J Med 1986;314;605-13. PMID 3945246.
  • Ralph Paffenbarger, Eric Olsen. LifeFit: An Effective Exercise Program for Optimal Health. 1996. ISBN 0-87322-429-9.
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