Choose to Live to 85

A forty year study of nearly six thousand people makes it clear that midlife health is directly correlated to longevity and health in old age.

The good news: your health decades from now is very much under your control today.

Sifting through a variety of tests given the subjects in 1965, the Hawaii-based researchers found nine that stood out as predictors of survival and health forty years later.

Six were associated with both overall survival and a healthy old age:

1) High grip strength (this usually indicates overall strength and fitness)

2) not overweight

3) no hyperglycemia (high blood sugar, frequently caused by obesity)

4) no hypertension ('high blood pressure' -- a risk factor for heart failure, heart attacks, strokes, and aneurysms, treated by weight loss and exercise)

5) no smoking

6) no excessive alcohol consumption

Two other factors were associated with healthy survival (but not necessarily overall survival):

7) high education

8) normal triglyceride levels (a type of bad cholesterol, lowered by exercise and proper diet)

Lastly, one final factor was linked to death before age 85:

9) lack of a marital partner.

People with no risk factors had a 69% chance of survival to age 85, while those with 6+ risk factors in midlife only had a 22% chance of lasting that long.

The same pattern held true when looking at "exceptional survival," which is reaching old age free of serious disease or disability: those free of the risk factors in middle age had a 55% probability of reaching healthy old age, while the 6+ risk factor group only had a 9% chance.

(The risk model they created is behind a subscription wall, but we expect it will be available via our public library's online databases within a month, and we'll follow up to learn more.)

Many of the risk factors are linked. Several of the tests (weight, high blood sugar, high triglycerides, and high blood pressure) cluster around insulin levels and insulin desensitization. The generic recommendation for treating these is exercise and a healthy diet -- which you can decide to do.

The other factors are also up to you. While you can't do much about your education level, you do control whether you smoke or drink too much.

Being married? Let's just say it's somewhat under your control, and leave it at that, and wish you a long, happy, and healthy life.

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Other detail on the study: Medical News Today, and Okinawa Centenarian Study.