prasad1
Active member
When it comes to maintaining health in one's older years, age means little and obesity may not be so bad after all, according to a US study.
Factors such as loneliness, depression and having broken a bone recently are more likely to predict a person's risk of dying in the next five years, researchers at the University of Chicago found.
"The healthiest people were obese and robust," said the study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, which found that 22 percent of older Americans fit that definition of good health despite higher obesity and blood pressure.
They had fewer organ system diseases, better mobility, sensory function and psychological health than others. They were also the least likely to die or become incapacitated five years into the study, which involved 3,000 people aged 57 to 85.
Researchers also uncovered new classes of people at twice the risk of dying or becoming incapacitated in five years. They include those of normal weight who face one key health problem such as thyroid disease, anemia or ulcers, those who had broken a bone since age 45, and those with poor mental health.
The most unhealthy are those with uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressure, and who often face challenges getting around and performing daily tasks.
"Instead of policies focused on reducing obesity as a much lamented health condition, greater support for reducing loneliness among isolated older adults or restoring sensory functions would be more effective in enhancing health and wellbeing in the older population," said co-author Edward Laumann of the University of Chicago.
Although cancer caused 24 percent of deaths among people over 55, it "seemed to develop randomly with respect to other organ system diseases," the study said.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/life...hy-aging-has-little-to-do-with-age-study.html
Factors such as loneliness, depression and having broken a bone recently are more likely to predict a person's risk of dying in the next five years, researchers at the University of Chicago found.
"The healthiest people were obese and robust," said the study in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science, which found that 22 percent of older Americans fit that definition of good health despite higher obesity and blood pressure.
They had fewer organ system diseases, better mobility, sensory function and psychological health than others. They were also the least likely to die or become incapacitated five years into the study, which involved 3,000 people aged 57 to 85.
Researchers also uncovered new classes of people at twice the risk of dying or becoming incapacitated in five years. They include those of normal weight who face one key health problem such as thyroid disease, anemia or ulcers, those who had broken a bone since age 45, and those with poor mental health.
The most unhealthy are those with uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressure, and who often face challenges getting around and performing daily tasks.
"Instead of policies focused on reducing obesity as a much lamented health condition, greater support for reducing loneliness among isolated older adults or restoring sensory functions would be more effective in enhancing health and wellbeing in the older population," said co-author Edward Laumann of the University of Chicago.
Although cancer caused 24 percent of deaths among people over 55, it "seemed to develop randomly with respect to other organ system diseases," the study said.
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/life...hy-aging-has-little-to-do-with-age-study.html
