How many years you can gain through a healthy lifestyle

A healthy lifestyle has a crucial importance for a longer life even in old age.

Physical activity, abstaining from cigarettes and little alcohol, as well as a healthy diet are basic rules that apply to everyone, regardless of age.

A new study shows that men and women over 75 can even live up to five years longer if they follow these rules. The study by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, led by physician Debora Rizzuto and her team, followed the fate of 1,800 Swedish women and men who were already 75 or older at the start of the study. It showed that a healthy lifestyle can have a direct effect on life expectancy, even in old age.

The researchers compared data on the participants' sociocultural background, education, previous occupation, social activities and lifestyle in 1987 with the actual state in 2005, 18 years later. Although more than 90 percent of the participants had died by that time, more than half of the survivors actually lived past age 90. Those who lived to an older age had a better social network, were better educated and led healthier lives.

Physical activity in particular showed the strongest correlation with the probability of survival. Those who regularly went for a walk, swam or did gymnastics lived an average of two years longer. In contrast, smokers died on average one year earlier than non-smokers.

Participants with a low risk profile lived 5.4 years longer compared to those with a high risk profile who exercised little, smoked and drank alcohol. Even among those over 85 and those with chronic diseases, a healthy lifestyle still had a positive effect on life expectancy, with a possible gain of four years if they followed the rules.

Source: Lifestyle also decisive in old age - science.ORF.at

Source: Lifestyle, social factors, and survival after age 75: population based study | The BMJ