Middle aged men can live long

Nine factors were good predictors of which middle-aged men would live healthily into their 80s and beyond, concluded a 40-year study of nearly 6,000 Japanese-American men living in the US state of Hawaii.

The factors: Not being overweight, having low blood pressure, low blood sugar levels, low levels of bad cholesterol, not drinking alcohol excessively, not becoming overweight, not smoking, having a strong grip, achieving a high level of education, and being married.

Grip strength, which can be measured by a test, is a strong indication of upper body strength. It is further proof “that it is important to be physically robust in midlife … consistent with theories of aging that suggest that better built organisms last longer”, the study said.

Of the 5,820 original study participants, 2,451 survived to age 85, and 655 participants reached that age without suffering serious health problems.

You can read about this new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).


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