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Leaving the House Linked To Longevity in Older Adults (yahoo.com)

Posted by msmash on from the something-to-keep-in-mind dept.

Researchers in Israel have found that leaving the house regularly can "contribute to a longer life" for elderly people. From a report: For study participants in their 70s, 80s and 90s, the frequency with which they left the house predicted how likely they were to make it to the next age milestone, researchers report in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. "The simple act of getting out of the house every day propels people into engagement with the world," said lead author Dr. Jeremy Jacobs of Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem in a phone interview. "We saw similar benefits that you'd expect from treating blood pressure or cholesterol with medicine," Jacobs said. "Social factors are important in the process of aging." Jacobs and colleagues analyzed data on 3,375 adults at ages 70, 78, 85 and 90 who were participating in the Jerusalem Longitudinal Study.

30 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. healthy by bugs2squash · · Score: 5, Insightful

    simply being healthy enough to leave the house means you are not as sick

    --
    Nullius in verba
    1. Re:healthy by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Constant Masturbation linked carpal tunnel syndrome."

      You're holding it wrong.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    2. Re:healthy by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I leave the house every day. I walk to the liquor store on the corner for pork rinds, flavored vodka, cigarettes and scratch-off tickets. I guess this study means I'll live forever.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:healthy by SandorZoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The very first sentence of the article says they tried to adjust for health (which is not a surprise):

      For older people, getting out of the house regularly may contribute to a longer life - and the effect is independent of medical problems or mobility issues, according to new research from Israel.

      The article is available for money from here, but the abstract says they adjusted for:

      * social (sex, marital status, financial status, loneliness)
      * functional (sex, self-rated health, fatigue, depression, physical activity, activity of daily living difficulty)
      * medical (sex, chronic pain, visual impairment, hearing impairment, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease, chronic kidney disease)

    4. Re:healthy by mentil · · Score: 1

      So if they're ruling out depression and level of physical activity, then what's the proposed mechanism of action? I have a hard time believing there are things unrelated to what they controlled for that are the cause. E.g. not every geriatric is diagnosed with ischemic heart disease before they suffer cardiac arrest. Then there's the case of the bedridden, who can have blood flow problems.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    5. Re:healthy by pr0fessor · · Score: 1

      I would buy pork rind flavored vodka...

    6. Re:healthy by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      Sad to say, the closest I can find is bacon.

      But infused vodka is easy...

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    7. Re:healthy by mikael · · Score: 2

      The Japanese noticed this too. If someone became too ill/weak to walk around and could only sit in a chair, everything else deteriorated (bones, vascular system, weight). Just getting up out of a chair and walking around the house doing housework was better than sitting. Going outside into the garden was even better, and walking around the village and talking to people even better still.

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
    8. Re:healthy by mikael · · Score: 1

      They give the people who are living on their own little robots to give them advice to encourage them to become more active and keep them company

      --
      Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
  2. Re:Correlation does not imply causation! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Lemons are yellow.
    My car is yellow.
    My car is a lemon.

    My logic is flawless!

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  3. Re:This is true for non-elderly Linux users, too. by greenwow · · Score: 1

    contributes to health problems.

    systemditus?

    I know it causes my blood pressure to rise when logging messages I need to troubleshoot a problem simply just get swallowed.

  4. A facet of life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This is a "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger" facet of life.

    Going outside early in life exposes one to more dangers. But if one survives the first 100 dangers, (from avoiding dark alleys to finding a new home) the body has strength and the mind has experience to recognize and survive the next 1,000 dangers.

  5. Yeah, but ... by Quirkz · · Score: 1

    Okay, so I'll leave the house. But do I have to actually talk to anyone while I'm out? The summary points to "social factors." Does sitting by myself at the park not cut it?

    --
    The Quirkz Handbook of Self-Improvement for People Who Are Already Pretty Okay
  6. Leaving the House by mentil · · Score: 5, Funny

    And this, ladies and gentleman, is why we need term limits for our Representatives. For their own health and safety.

    --
    Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    1. Re:Leaving the House by tomhath · · Score: 1

      I thought the same thing; here's hoping Nancy Pelosi takes the hint.

    2. Re:Leaving the House by mentil · · Score: 2

      She has to leave the House to, uhh, find out what's in it.

      --
      Corruption is convincing someone that the selfless ideal is the same as their selfish ideal.
    3. Re:Leaving the House by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Oh, come on guys, give up some points. 2 for 2...bravo sir.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
  7. Grandpa ... by PPH · · Score: 1

    ... just looks so sad sitting on the front steps when we push him out the door.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  8. But what about leaving the Senate by rossdee · · Score: 1

    Strom Thurmond lived a long time

    1. Re:But what about leaving the Senate by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Strom has the nicest gym I've ever laid eyes on. If you ever get to Columbia, SC, check it out at the Univ. of S.C.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
  9. Re:Correlation does not imply causation! by Oliver+Wendell+Jones · · Score: 2

    God is love.
    Love is blind
    Stevie Wonder is blind
    Stevie Wonder is God.

    It's the Commutative Property of Theology

    --
    A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
  10. Are you sure you got the order right? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Researchers in Israel have found that leaving the house regularly can "contribute to a longer life" for elderly people

    Or that being in poor health means you're less inclined to exert yourself.

  11. Leaving the House, If Only To Say... by crunchygranola · · Score: 1

    Stay off my lawn!

    --
    Second class citizen of the New Gilded Age
  12. Cause and Effect? by B.Stolk · · Score: 2

    If you live to an old age, you are less likely to suffer from many illnesses.

    If you have little illness, you are more likely to spend time outside.

    --
    http://www.stolk.org/tlctc
  13. Your Mum's Basement Memes by hai_Priesty · · Score: 1

    I've expected at least 10 people to mention that Mum's Basement Meme, can't believe I'm the first one.

    Sitting for long stretches is not good for health, with or without the effect of socializing:-
    https://science.slashdot.org/story/17/01/19/1149200/sitting-too-much-ages-you-by-8-years

  14. They thought of that. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    From the article:

    "The link between leaving the house and longevity, however, remained after the researchers accounted for medical or mobility issues such as chronic pain, vision or hearing impairment, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and kidney disease."

    We all know that the media likes to ignore the difference between correlation and causation in favour of a good story; we also know that supposedly-scientific studies can be more lax in the same way than we'd like. On this occasion, however, prima facie, that doesn't seem to be the case.

  15. Read the article, guys by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This isn't an overt confusion of cause and effect. The study allowed for individual health factors, and still found a strong correlation.

  16. Everyone say it with me: Correlation... by zarmanto · · Score: 1

    This sounds an awful lot like your stereotypical "correlation is not causation" finding to me.

  17. Isn't it the other way around? by Elixon · · Score: 1

    Longevity Linked To Leaving the House in Older Adults

    Which means, if you are destined to live longer then you are more likely to leave the house. I mean, it simply will not change a thing if you force your grandma twice a day out of the house... (Contrary the stress levels caused by interrupting favorite soap opera may have even adverse effects... and not only on her health. ;-) )

    --
    Well, I've got to get back to work. When I stop rowing, the slave ship just goes in circles.
  18. The Root Cause by mridion · · Score: 1

    The cause of this correlation phenomena is obvious, at least to me, and affordably testable. BEANS

    --
    https://www.facebook.com/stephen.fletch