Individuals older than 75 who were physically active and participated in social activities lived a median 5.4 years (95% CI 3 to 7.8) longer than those with a less healthy lifestyle and more limited social life, according to Laura Fratiglioni, MD, PhD, and colleagues from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.
all-cause mortality
Baby Boomers: Will We Really Rock On Forever?
Baby boomers, now between 48 and 67 years old, have already shown a greater propensity to suicide than previous generations, according to a data analysis from researchers at Rutgers University and Emory University. Male boomers had abnormally high suicide rates in their teen and early 20s, peaking for many boomers at 26 suicides per 100,000 lives at an age when the rate among next older generations were below 20 suicides per 100,000 lives, data showed. Patterns were similar for women, though their rates are lower, Emory epidemiologist Ellen Idler said.
Consider Loneliness in Senior Health Assessments
Researchers evaluated six years of data on 1,604 people 60 and older and found that 43% were classified as lonely. Compared with other study participants, those individuals were more prone to have their mobility decline, lose upper body strength, have trouble climbing stairs and decrease their daily activities. Loneliness also was associated with an increased risk of death, the study said.
A separate study of 8,594 adults 45 and older found that those between age 45 and 65 who live alone have significantly increased risk of mortality — and particularly cardiovascular-related death — than those who don’t live alone. That study also was published online June 18 in Archives of Internal Medicine.
via Doctors asked to consider loneliness in senior health assessment – amednews.com.
Vitamin D Plus Calcium May Cut Mortality Risk
Patients receiving both calcium and vitamin D had a 9% lower mortality rate through 3 years of treatment than those not receiving vitamin D (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.84 to 0.98), according to Lars Rejnmark, MD, PhD, of Aarhus University in Aarhus, Denmark, and colleagues.
How about a non-prescription supplement and vitamin questionnaire?
Heart Deaths in Diabetes Plummet
Data from the National Health Interview Survey found that both cardiovascular and all-cause mortality rates for diabetics fell substantially when 2003-2004 information was compared to 1997-1998.
via Medical News: Heart Deaths in Diabetes Plummet – in Cardiovascular, Diabetes from MedPage Today.
Forging Stronger Social Connections for a Longer Life
Forging Stronger Social Connections for a Longer Life – NYTimes.com.
Read those senior questionnaires very, very carefully.
No Age Limit on Benefits of Eating Well
Older people who eat properly are likely to live longer.
That’s the implication of a study looking at mortality and eating habits among a cohort of nearly 4,000 people 65 and older, according to Luis Afonso, MD, of Wayne State University in Detroit, and colleagues.
After an average follow-up of 13 years, participants with a good diet had lower rates of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, compared with those who had a poor diet, Afonso and colleagues reported in the Feb. 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
I’ll take fries with that.
Patient Access to Core Attributes of Primary Care Linked to Lower Mortality
Specifically, authors of “Primary Care Attributes and Mortality: A National Person-Level Study” found that patients who reported three attributes in their usual source of care — comprehensiveness, patient-centeredness and enhanced access — had lower mortality during up to six years follow-up than patients reporting less access to those three attributes.
Thought For Today – 7/9/11
A must read post from Tony Schwartz at the HBR Blog Network.
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