A thirty-year study of old people

 I recently found the transcript of a May 4, 2014, edition of 60 Minutes that discussed a study of  people who are 90-plus. The study was sparked by a discovery, in 2003, of a survey that had been completed in 1981 by 14,000 residents of Leisure World, a retirement community in California. Residents had provided data about their diet, exercise, vitamins, activities, and other health-related matters. In poring over the records from 1981, the researchers discovered that 1,900 of these people were still alive and enrolled 1,600 of them in a follow-up study. Here is what they learned about the still-healthy “oldest old”:

• Exercise: “People who exercised definitely lived longer than people who didn’t exercise. As little as 15 minutes a day on average made a difference.” Forty-five minutes was best and it didn’t have to be every intense.
• Socializing: "For every hour you spent doing activities in 1981, you increased your longevity and the benefit of those things never leveled off."
• Vitamins: “People who took Vitamin E didn’t live any longer than people who didn’t take Vitamin E…The short answer is none of ‘em [vitamins] made any difference."
• Alcohol: “Moderate alcohol was associated with living longer…Up to two drinks a day led to a 10-15 percent reduced risk of death compared to non-drinkers."
• Caffeine: "Caffeine intake equivalent to 1-3 cups of coffee a day was better than more, or none."
• Weight: “It turns out that the best thing to do as you age is to at least maintain or even gain weight." People who were overweight or average weight outlived people who were underweight.
• Blood pressure: “If you have high blood pressure it looks like your risk of dementia is lower. “

 I find most of these findings heartening.

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