Sensational discovery of gerontologists
Longevity is associated with unpleasant symptoms and frequent helplessness
The scientists' article was published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine (Disability During the Last Two Years of Life).
Alexander K. Smith and his colleagues from the University of California San Francisco analyzed data from the Health and Retirement Study. It started in 1992 and continues to this day. The purpose of this study is to study the changes that occur with the health and well–being of people after the age of 50. To do this, the study participants are interviewed every 2 years.
Dr. Smith's team selected for the first part of their study data on 8,232 Health and Retirement Study participants who died between January 1995 and December 2010. 52% of them were women, their average age is 81 years, and the average age of men is 77 years. By the time of death, 22% of women and 11% of men had reached the age of 90 or older. In the course of the study, scientists assessed the frequency of helplessness among participants – it was defined as the need for outside help in at least one of the daily activities: dressing, taking a bath, eating, getting out of bed or laying in it, moving around the room or going to the toilet.
The results showed that the frequency of helplessness increases from 14 percent among 50-69-year-olds to 50 percent among 90-year-olds and older. In the last 2 years of life, 46 percent of the study participants experienced difficulties with performing any one daily action, 28 percent were expressed helpless (3 out of 5 actions), and 12 percent were extremely helpless (5 out of 5). In the last month of life, these figures increased to 68, 56 and 40 percent, respectively. At the same time, by the time of death, a third of the female participants and only 21 percent of men were helpless.
The second part of the study was devoted to the study of symptoms that accompany old age and worsen the quality of life of an elderly person. The study involved 754 socially and physically active people aged 70 years and older. The researchers interviewed them monthly about the presence of irritating symptoms: weakness, memory problems, joint pain, frequent colds, poor eyesight, urinary incontinence, etc. The results showed that 57.2 percent of the participants complained about at least one such irritating symptom in the last months of their lives. The researchers emphasize that these data are extremely important for national social protection and health systems, especially in conditions of rapid aging of the population. According to experts' forecasts, by 2050 the number of residents over the age of 85 will triple and amount to 19.4 million people.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru11.07.2013