|
|
|
|
||
|
||
|
|
||
| SEARCH | SUBSCRIBE | ||
|
 |
Strong
heart key to good health in old age Reuters Health Want to enjoy good health in your golden years? Take good
care of your heart, according to the findings of a new study. Researchers report that healthy elderly people who had low risk factors
for cardiovascular disease continued to enjoy good health longer than
people with more risk factors. "Our study is a picture of what the future of older people could
be like--the ideal golden years--if they keep heart disease risk factors
in check," the studyıs lead author Dr. Anne B. Newman of the "Older healthy people can maintain better-than-average quality of
life, with lower rates of physical and cognitive decline, when they
refrain from smoking, lower their blood lipids, watch blood pressure and
avoid obesity through diet and exercise," Newman added. The study included nearly 3,000 men and women who were at least 65
years old. At the start of the study, all of the participants had aged
"successfully," meaning that they maintained good mental and
physical functioning and did not have cardiovascular disease, cancer or
chronic lung disease. Researchers followed the participants for eight years to see if they
continued to age successfully. Nearly half of the participants, 48 percent, were still aging
successfully at the end of the study, Newmanıs team reports in the
October 27th issue of the journal Archives of Internal Medicine. Not surprisingly, a person's age at the start of the study had an
important influence on the odds of aging successfully. People 85 or older
enjoyed only about one fourth the number of healthy years as did people
who were 65 to 69 at the start of the study But within each age group, the odds of aging successfully depended on
other factors, including the presence of "subclinical"
cardiovascular disease, which does not cause symptoms and can only be
detected with diagnostic tests. Compared with people with subclinical cardiovascular disease, people
without any signs of heart disease continued to enjoy good health for an
average of 5 to 6 years longer. Several risk factors for heart disease, including diabetes, smoking,
high blood pressure and lack of exercise, were also related to the odds of
aging successfully. This connection is important, according to the
researchers, since these risk factors can be modified. Noting that current efforts to reduce cardiovascular risk factors, such
as smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and obesity, fall short
of goals, Newman and her colleagues conclude that "prevention of
cardiovascular disease should be a major priority for the achievement of
successful aging." Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, Copyright
İ 2002 Global Action on Aging |
