Age|The improvement of living conditions and health care seems to have strengthened the functional capacity of people over sixty, concludes an international study based on extensive data.
The summary is made by artificial intelligence and checked by a human.
Today’s elderly can be more functional than previous generations.
The US analysis emphasizes the importance of education, nutrition and medicine.
The study looked at British and Chinese people over the age of 60 in long-term follow-ups.
The prevalence of overweight can further weaken the functional capacity of the elderly.
The as the living conditions in developed countries have improved, they have reached adulthood fresher and more energetic than those of the same age were in previous decades. This is what a recent study based on extensive data says.
“For many people, 70 can be the new 60,” says the American professor John Beard recent research in the bulletin.
Take, for example, a 68-year-old born in 1950. According to the study, he was mentally and physically fitter than a person born in 1940 was at the age of 62.
If the researchers had compared the performance of a person born in the 1950s with a person born in the 1920s, the changes for the better would have been greater, according to Beard.
Beard is the first author of a study that compared British and Chinese people born in different decades. The study was published by the scientific journal Nature Aging.
Beard works in public health research at Columbia University at the Mailman Research Center in New York.
Credit for the “rejuvenation” of people over sixty goes to the improvement of education, nutrition and sanitation, i.e. general cleanliness.
Of course, the development of medicine has also promoted the functional capacity of the elderly. For example, the development of artificial joints and treatments for chronic diseases have strengthened the functional capacity of adults.
According to the study, the improvements in the functional capacity and vitality of the elderly are great, Beard states in the press release.
“We were surprised at how large these improvements were, especially when we compared those born after World War II to those born before,” says Beard.
However, the observations cannot be generalized to describe the world’s grown-up people in general. Conditions in different countries vary, as does the population within countries.
in Finland the same improvement in performance has been observed, says the professor Timo Strandberg. The professor emeritus is recognized for his research in geriatrics.
“Also, the improvement of the functional capacity of even older people has been observed in the long-term follow-up of the Helsinki Elderly Study”, commented Strandberg in an email.
Followed by Helsinki since 1989 age cohorts aged 75-95 have been compared every ten years. Professor Reijo Tilviksen in the follow-up that has started, the gasteny index, which reflects biological age and functional capacity, has been measured.
Gerasthenia refers to a syndrome that includes, among other things, muscle loss, bone loss, sluggishness and falling.
“According to the latest report, the index has improved over the decades, although no longer for those over 95 years old. The inevitable aging changes are already taking their toll,” Strandberg says.
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“The threat is the prevalence of obesity.”
Important the point of view in recent research seems to be that it looks at adults through functional ability and not just disease avoidance. The elderly often value the ability to function independently even more than mere additional years.
Functional capacity has several dimensions, such as cognitive and physical abilities, mental well-being and the function of the senses such as sight and hearing. In general, it could be said that the study also looked at people’s vitality, i.e. life force.
Beard warns that the strengthening of the functional capacity of people over sixty is not self-evident. One debilitating factor is the increase in overweight, which can reverse development.
Strandberg also warns against being overweight.
“One the factor behind the improvement in functional capacity is the successful fight against arterial diseases and their transfer to later age. The threat picture is prevalence of obesity. It exposes not only to premature death but also gerastenialle and to a graceful old age.”
Functionality and there are almost twenty factors related to vitality in the study.
Walking speed and the ease and balance of getting up to a sitting position are indicative of physical activity. Compression force, for example, indicates vitality.
In terms of independent functioning, it is also important that the areas of memory play. Mood is an important factor, and experiences of happiness and loneliness are related to it, for example.
Research the material is from the British long-term monitoring of aging (English Longitudinal Study of Aging, ELSA). There was information on nearly 15,000 people over 60 years old. There were slightly more women than men. The median year of birth was 1940.
The like data were obtained from long-term follow-up in China (China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, CHARLS). There was information on more than 11,000 people over 60 years old. There were equal numbers of women and men. The median year of birth was 1947.
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