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How long older adults will live comes down to 17 often surprising factors (Cancer & heart disease not key)
Medical Xpress / Duke University / eBioMedicine ^ | Sept. 29, 2022 | Alexis Porter / Virginia Byers Kraus et al

Posted on 10/01/2022 8:03:56 PM PDT by ConservativeMind

A new model to predict the life expectancy of older people relies less on their specific disease diagnoses and more on factors such as the ability to grocery shop, the amount of certain small cholesterol particles circulating in their blood, and whether they never or only occasionally smoked.

The findings provide a way to predict whether a person over the age of 70 is likely to live two, five or 10 years.

"This study was designed to determine the proximal causes of longevity—the factors that portend whether someone is likely to live two more years or 10 more years," said Virginia Byers Kraus, M.D., Ph.D..

Kraus and colleagues launched their inquiry at an opportune time, having been directed to a cache of 1,500 blood samples from a 1980s longitudinal study that enrolled older people.

The researchers were able to delve into health factors to identify a core set of 17 predictive variables that have a causal impact on longevity.

The analysis found that a leading factor associated with longevity across each of the study's benchmarks—two-, five- and 10-years after participants had their blood drawn—was physical function, which was defined as an ability to go grocery shopping or perform housecleaning chores. Surprisingly, having cancer or heart disease was not among the main predictors.

For older people living two years beyond the time their blood had been drawn, the leading factor associated with longevity was having an abundance of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol—and not just any HDL lipids, but high volumes of very small HDL particles.

At five years beyond the original blood draw, just being of a younger age was predictive of longevity, along with cognitive function. And among the longest survivors—those living 10 years—the best predictor was a person's smoking history, with non-smokers faring best.

(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...


TOPICS: Health/Medicine
KEYWORDS: age; health; life; oldasdirt
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To: ConservativeMind

Darn! I guess I died yesterday.


21 posted on 10/01/2022 11:39:22 PM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: Honest Nigerian
At five years beyond the original blood draw, just being of a younger age was predictive of longevity [...]

Imagine that! A study on the life expectancy of older adults determines that being young reduces mortality!

Regards,

22 posted on 10/01/2022 11:56:33 PM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: mass55th
My father and mother both smoked Camels their whole life. My father worked on the NY Central Railroad, got up every morning at five, and cooked himself a big breakfast with bacon, or salt pork and eggs, before getting the bus to go to work. We didn't have a car. We used butter in the house too. My Dad kept a jar of bacon grease in the fridge that he would use to fry things up in. On Saturdays, he'd make his own meatballs, fry up Italian sausage, (we weren't Italian), and make spaghetti sauce. If there were pork chops or pork steak left over from a meal during the week, he'd throw those in the sauce. Sometimes he'd get pork hocks, fry them up in bacon grease, and throw those in the sauce. He was the only one who ate them. My Dad died in 1978, at the age of 72 from lung cancer. My mother died of lung cancer at the age of 69 in 1990.

1. A resounding endorsement for... what, actually? Are you recommending that we avoid your father's diet and/or lifestyle, or what?

2. Your father was 15 years older than your mother: Discuss!

3. Are you still not Italian now?

Regards,

23 posted on 10/02/2022 12:03:39 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: alexander_busek

Slow night for you?


24 posted on 10/02/2022 12:26:15 AM PDT by mass55th ("Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." ~~ John Wayne )
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To: ConservativeMind

17?? Nah, I think it’s 1,629.

No way it’s 17.

Nature doesn’t work in 17s. She works in twos and threes and rarely in fours or more.

What’s happening here, I think, IMHO, is someone who doesn’t know a lot about statistics, got carried away with it and kept adding variables until he had “explained” 90 or 95%, or some such amount of the total variability, without regard to the humbling reality that we are primitive humans, living in the primitive 21st Century, and future generations will tell us what the tenth and eleventh most important variables are, never mind the 17th.


25 posted on 10/02/2022 12:33:28 AM PDT by LibWhacker
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To: mass55th
Slow night for you?

Yes.

And for you, too, apparently.

Regards,

26 posted on 10/02/2022 12:36:45 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants; ConservativeMind; All

My father smoked roll-your-own until 87 when he developed symptoms of prostate cancer. He quit smoking and went to Dr. Atkins group for nutrition and chemotherapy. Successfully went into remission, but died at 90 of a stroke experienced when in a very stressful situation that probably triggered his well developed capacity for anger, which was not good for his high blood pressure.


27 posted on 10/02/2022 12:51:01 AM PDT by gleeaikin (Question authority! .)
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To: lee martell; ConservativeMind; All

Did I hear right recently Clint Eastwood just turned 100? I saw his movie a year or 2 ago about an elderly man who has taken a young man under his wing and is supposed to get him to communicate with his father. In their travels they meet and older Mexican woman and she and Eastwood end up together to share a life. Happy ending for old people. My partner now is being treated for prostate cancer and I worry about being alone at 84. He is only 78.


28 posted on 10/02/2022 1:00:49 AM PDT by gleeaikin (Question authority! .)
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To: gleeaikin

Clint Eastwood is 92 ........... May 31, 1930


29 posted on 10/02/2022 1:12:33 AM PDT by Irish Eyes
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To: LibWhacker; ConservativeMind; alexander_busek; SeekAndFind; null and void; All

I would like to see them run a test of longevity in people who had optimum levels of Vitamin D3 and Zinc, versus people with insufficient, deficient, or very deficient levels of these 2 nutrients. One third the American and the world population is deficient in both those nutrients. A Turkish study of Covid treatments on around 240 hospitalized patients was shocked to find that when they reviewed their subjects’ original blood work, NONE were in the OPTIMUM range for D3. Three were insufficient, the rest were divided relatively equally between deficient and severely deficient. My conclusion is that a good way to stay out of hospital is get your blood tested and then find out how much Vitamin D3 will bring you to the OPTIMUM level, and stay optimum by regular sun exposure and D3 supplements.

The experiment included giving Zinc, HCQ and Azithromyin plus some D3 and dividing the group between some getting a gram a day of Vitamin C, or 24 grams of C intravenously per day. That arm of the study proved that IV Vitamin C significantly reduced days spent in hospital. The only subject who died was extremely, extremely deficient in Vitamin D.


30 posted on 10/02/2022 1:18:28 AM PDT by gleeaikin (Question authority! .)
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To: Irish Eyes; LibWhacker; ConservativeMind; alexander_busek; SeekAndFind; null and void; Jane Long; ..

I thiught the folks who said age 100 might have been wrong.

I found the article about the Turkish study that discovered the value of Vitamin D in their preliminary screening data. It was in fact a study of the original Zelenko 3 drug protocol, plus Vitamin D3 and various amounts of Vitamin C.

https://www.cureus.com/articles/76496-therapies-to-prevent-progression-of-covid-19-including-hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin-zinc-and-vitamin-d3-with-or-without-intravenous-vitamin-c-an-international-multicenter-randomized-trial

This is a long scientific paper. Go to the bottom and read the Conclusions, and then the Discussion above that. If you are a serious reader of the whole study be aware the US uses the Vitamin D measure in ngm/mL (nanograms per mililiter), Turkey and many other countries measure by nmols/L (nanomoles per Liter). Divide the Turkish number by 2.5 to get the equivalent US measurement. Kaiser Permanente health organization gave 50 to 80 ngm/mL as the OPTIMUM range. I calculated that the Turkish study considered 30 ngm/mL or above as optimum, a bit lower than KP’s standard.

Dr. Zelenko subsequently decided Doxycycline was a bit safer than Azithromycin to protect the lungs, and Ivermectin could be substituted for HCQ as the ionophore helping Zinc into infected cells. Also if you could not get these from a doctor, you can get Quercetin from a drug or health food store to act as an ionophore. Unfortunately, Dr. Zelenko has died in Israel. His loss of one lung to cancer a few years ago prompted him to intensively seek an effective treatment for Covid, which he accomplished. Thank you Dr. Z.


31 posted on 10/02/2022 1:57:36 AM PDT by gleeaikin (Question authority! .)
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To: ProudGOP
In a true state of ketosis you are a baby or toddler in Africa with a big head and shrunken body waiting for the next UN emergency food delivery so you can live a few more months.

For the rest of us in a “near” state of ketosis, you fart alot and are always hungry.

32 posted on 10/02/2022 2:20:30 AM PDT by Badboo (A fascist is the one who wants to take your guns. That's how it always starts.)
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To: Blood of Tyrants

And both ate the “bad” foods, bacon, eggs, lard, butter, etc.

Contrary to “health professionals”, those are the best foods.


33 posted on 10/02/2022 2:34:25 AM PDT by JohnnyP (Thinking is hard work (I stole that from Rush).)
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To: RoosterRedux

Many health-conscious friends and family members died young from cancer. These were people who exercised regularly, ate well, stayed in good shape, avoided alcohol, and never smoked.

Meanwhile, many other people smoke, drink, etc., and live to a ripe old age.

Genetics (and other kinds of lucky breaks) seem to be the key to a long life.

But, diet and exercise really do improve the quality of life. If we’re in good shape when something happens (like a serious illness or injury, or even if we’re giving birth), we tend to bounce back quickly.


34 posted on 10/02/2022 3:15:48 AM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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To: Falconspeed

My 99 year old mother would disagree.

When she is asked what she attributes her many years to she says, “God’s will and always having something to look forward to”.

I think it’s genetic and state of mind and most importantly, “God’s will”.

She has never smoked or consumed any alcohol. Eats a lot of sweets and drinks a lot of coffee.

Also has many health issues, broke her hip (fall) a month ago, survived surgery and was walking with a walker the next day. Doctors are amazed. Before the “fall”, she was active, still going to church and going out for lunches with friends. The broken hip will certainly clip her wings a bit but she’s already chomping at the bit to get back to church.


35 posted on 10/02/2022 3:19:44 AM PDT by Baldwin77 (Super, Duper, Ultra Maga, subject of the Ultra Maga King Donald)
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To: Tired of Taxes

Yep, the “secret” to long life seems to be good genetics. A non depressed attitude probably helps too.


36 posted on 10/02/2022 3:40:42 AM PDT by glorgau
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To: Tired of Taxes
Many health-conscious friends and family members died young from cancer. These were people who exercised regularly, ate well, stayed in good shape, avoided alcohol, and never smoked. Meanwhile, many other people smoke, drink, etc., and live to a ripe old age.

The fallacy in that statement (false equivalency, apples/oranges comparison) is it draws conclusions re: exercise and diet by comparing different peoples' outcomes.

The problem is that you can't compare the effects of exercise and diet on one person who might be genetically predisposed to illness to its effects on another who may be naturally much healthier and then evaluate the benefits of exercise/diet based on the difference in the quality of life and longevity of those two people.

The people who died young from cancer but who exercised, ate right, avoided alcohol, and never smoked might have been MUCH sicker if they had not developed these habits.

And the people who lived long healthy lives but were sedentary, drank, smoked, etc. might have lived lives of MUCH higher quality and longevity if they had exchanged those bad habits for good ones (exercise/diet).

37 posted on 10/02/2022 4:05:23 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: glorgau
Anyone who doesn't know about the benefits of diet and exercise at this point is an idiot.

Whatever genetics you have inherited can be improved by exercise and eating right. Americans are lard asses and diabetes is out of control because of your kind of thinking.

38 posted on 10/02/2022 4:14:32 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: Baldwin77
Best of luck with your mom. She sounds like she has a good attitude.

I was a caregiver to my elderly parents for a very long time.

My dad went through a period when he just didn't want to get out of bed. His blood pressure started getting out of control and he just seemed depressed.

I convinced him to let me sign him up for a water aerobics class at the local college indoor pool just for "seniors." It was a very gentle exercise program of mostly just moving around in the shallow end of the pool.

He fought me tooth and nail, but I eventually convinced him to just try it once.

When I dropped him off at the pool, he was clearly very down about the idea.

But when I picked him up, he was pink as a baby and chatted the whole way home about his new friends and how much fun he had.

When time for the next class arrived, he was again extremely resistant. But I kept reminding him how much fun he had last time and how great he felt afterward. It was a battle, but he went.

When I picked him up, he was full of energy and very chatty again.

After a few weeks (I always had to drag him to the class), he was feeling better around the house and had much more energy and a significantly improved outlook.

39 posted on 10/02/2022 4:29:27 AM PDT by RoosterRedux
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To: Secret Agent Man

My mother’s doctors are amazed at her health, both physical and mental. She’s as sharp as a tack. Has probably never exercised a day in her life, and her diet is what it was growing up as a farmer’s daughter, i.e., meat, potatoes, and desserts. But she always is working on some word puzzle or reading a book — usually political — and the Bible every day. She never smoked or touched alcohol. She’s 99.

Her blood panels are always good, and better than mine even though I eat more healthy

Osteoporosis is inevitable at her age and she broke her hip last month. Her heart and overall health were excellent and she was able to have hip replacement surgery which she handled well.

Dad lived about the same way and lived to 88.

(My mother is Baldwin77’s mother.)


40 posted on 10/02/2022 4:45:33 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam (It amazes me how much "exercise" and "extra fries" sound alike.)
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