EconPapers    
Economics at your fingertips  
 

Predictors of healthy aging in men with high life expectancies

D.M. Reed, D.J. Foley, L.R. White, H. Heimovitz, C.M. Burchfiel and K. Masaki

American Journal of Public Health, 1998, vol. 88, issue 10, 1463-1468

Abstract: Objective. The purpose of this study was to identify risk factors that consistently predict saying healthy in contrast to developing clinical illness and/or physical and mental impairments. Methods. More than 8000 men of Japanese ancestry were followed for 28 years with repeat examinations and surveillance for deaths and incident clinical illness. Physical and cognitive functions were measured in 1993. Measures of healthy aging included surviving and remaining free of major chronic illnesses and physical and cognitive impairments. Results. Of 6505 healthy men at baseline, 2524 (39%) died prior to the final exam. Of the 3263 available survivors, 41% remained free of major clinical illnesses, 40% remained free of both physical and cognitive impairment and 19% remained free of both illness and impairment. The most consistent predictors of healthy aging were low blood pressure, low serum glucose, not smoking cigarettes, and not being obese. Conclusions. Beyond the biological effects of aging, much of the illness and disability in the elderly is related to risk factors present at midlife.

Date: 1998
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1998:88:10:1463-1468_9

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().

 
Page updated 2025-03-19
Handle: RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:1998:88:10:1463-1468_9