Healthy living may mean more healthy years for seniors

Seniors who eat healthy, exercise regularly, keep a trim waistline and stay away from smoking can look forward to more disability-free years, a new study finds.
"There is great concern in society that a longer life will be a great burden to society," said study co-author Dr. Anne Newman, director of the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Aging and Population Health.
"This study shows that a longer life was also a better life in those with healthy lifestyles," she said.
The bottom line, said Newman, is that those with the healthiest habits could expect to live out roughly 80 percent of their remaining years disability-free. In contrast, among those with "the lowest level of health habits, only 55 to 60 percent of [their] remaining years were disability-free," she added.
"So, we can say that having a healthy lifestyle later in life was important for staying healthy and disability-free," Newman said.
For the study, Newman's team sifted through data on almost 5,900 men and women aged 65 and older. At the start of the study, all the seniors were fully mobile and lived independently in Sacramento County, Calif.; Forsyth County, N.C.; Washington County, Md.; and Allegheny 
County, Pa.
Starting in 1990, and continuing for another 25 years, the researchers tracked the study participants' lifestyle habits twice yearly. Those habits included smoking, drinking and physical activity, as well as diet, weight status and socializing routines.
By the end of the study period, roughly nine in 10 participants had died. On average, women tended to live 15 years after the launch of the study, and almost 11 of those years were characterized as disability-free. That meant they had no difficulty performing routine daily activities, such as eating, using the bathroom, getting dressed, getting in and out of bed or a chair, and walking throughout the home.
Men in the study lived an average of 12 years, and were considered disability-free for about 10 of those years.
    HealthDay

Healthy living may mean more healthy years for seniors

Seniors who eat healthy, exercise regularly, keep a trim waistline and stay away from smoking can look forward to more disability-free years, a new study finds. There is great concern in society that a longer life will be a great burden to society, said study co-author Dr. Anne Newman, director of the University of Pittsburghs Center for Aging and Population Health. This study shows that a longer life was also a better life in those with healthy lifestyles, she said. The bottom line, said Newman, is that those with the healthiest habits could expect to live out roughly 80 percent of their remaining years disability-free. In contrast, among those with the lowest level of health habits, only 55 to 60 percent of [their] remaining years were disability-free, she added. So, we can say that having a healthy lifestyle later in life was important for staying healthy and disability-free, Newman said. For the study, Newmans team sifted through data on almost 5,900 men and women aged 65 and older. At the start of the study, all the seniors were fully mobile and lived independently in Sacramento County, Calif.; Forsyth County, N.C.; Washington County, Md.; and Allegheny County, Pa. Starting in 1990, and continuing for another 25 years, the researchers tracked the study participants lifestyle habits twice yearly. Those habits included smoking, drinking and physical activity, as well as diet, weight status and socializing routines. By the end of the study period, roughly nine in 10 participants had died. On average, women tended to live 15 years after the launch of the study, and almost 11 of those years were characterized as disability-free. That meant they had no difficulty performing routine daily activities, such as eating, using the bathroom, getting dressed, getting in and out of bed or a chair, and walking throughout the home. Men in the study lived an average of 12 years, and were considered disability-free for about 10 of those years. HealthDay