Anti-Aging Lifestyle May Profoundly Extend Lifespan

In that previous studies have correlated a number of factors as contributors to disease, researchers from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) have completed a large-scale, long-term study suggesting that such disease factors also are predicative of longevity. Lars Wilhelmsen and colleagues analyzed data from The 1913 Men epidemiological study, which began in 1963, when one-third of all the 50-year-old men residing in Gothenburg, Sweden had a cardiovascular check-up. Every ten years since, a new group of 50-year-olds has been called in, and those who were already taking part in the study have been given another check-up.  The men born in 1913 were examined when they were 50, 54, 60, 67, 75 and 80 years of age. Of the 855 men who took part in the study from the start, 111 (13%) were still alive at the age of 90. The researchers found the following factors enabled the greatest chances of living to age 90:
• Do not smoke
• Consume moderate amounts of coffee
• At a good socio-economic status at the age of 50 (measured in terms of housing costs)
• Engaged in good physical working capacity at the age of 54
• Low cholesterol at age 50
As well, the team reports that : “Variables of greatest importance at higher ages were low blood pressure and measures related to good cardiorespiratory function,” leading them to conclude that:  “Low levels of cardiovascular risk factors, high socio-economic status and good functional capacity, irrespective of parents’ survival, characterize men destined to reach the age of 90.”