|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Oldest Elders Surprisingly Spry
People aged 92 to 100 may be healthier and more
independent than you think
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News
If
you make it to your 92nd birthday, your odds of
staying spry as you head toward the century mark may
be better than you expect.
That
news comes from a study of 2,262 Danish adults
starting at age 92. Everyone born in 1905 in Denmark
and still living there was invited to participate,
whether they lived at home or in an institution and
needed someone to help them take part in the study.
They were followed until they reached 100.
The
study was all about seeing whether exceptional
longevity came with high levels of disability.
The
short answer: It didn't. Extreme age didn't bring
extreme disability, overall.
The
elders did have a slight decline in their ability to
perform routine activities, mental skills test
scores, grip strength, and other measures, and fewer
were independent at 100 than at 92.
"Nonetheless, our finding also suggests that
individuals who survive into the highest ages have a
health profile that is similar in many aspects to
that of individuals who are seven or eight years
younger," write the researchers, who included Kaare
Christensen, MD, PhD, DMSc, of the Danish Aging
Research Center at the University of Southern
Denmark.
It's
not that no one got sick, slowed down, or died --
only 166 people were still enrolled in the study at
age 100. It's more that they didn't linger in what
the researchers call a "frail... vegetative state."
"Even though individuals in this age range have an
increased risk of disability for each additional
year of life, the frailest and most disabled members
of the cohort are those who are most likely to die
at any given age," explain Christensen and
colleagues.
Their bottom line: "Most individuals can expect to
experience physical decline before they die, but the
postponement of this individual decline makes it
possible for us to live into a fourth age"
stretching toward 100.
The
study appears in this week's online early edition of
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
"Even though individuals in this age range have
an increased risk of disability for each
additional year of life, the frailest and most
disabled members of the cohort are those who are
most likely to die at any given age" |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
It's
easy to stay up to date on the things that interest you.
Just 
