According to research published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine watching television equates with other risky behaviors such as smoking and lack of exercise. 

The medical experts explained that sedentary behavior is associated with a higher risk of death, particularly from heart attack or stroke.   They used previously published data on the relationship between viewing time and death from analyses of the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study to arrive at the lifetime risk of TV watching. 

Using a national survey that involved more than 11,000 adults aged 25 or older, the researchers quizzed the participants about the total amount of time they had spent in the previous week watching TV or videos. 

In 2008 the authors estimated that adults aged 25 and older watched 9.8 billion hours of TV, which led them to calculate that every single hour of TV watched after the age of 25 shortened the viewer’s life expectancy by just under 22 minutes. 

Based on these figures, and expected deaths from all causes, the authors calculated that an individual who spends a lifetime average of six hours a day watching TV can expect to live just under five fewer years than someone who does not watch TV. 

“The impact compares with the impact of other well known lifestyle factors on the risk of death from cardiovascular disease after the age of 50,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  “Long term care insurers may have to start asking about television watching habits to see who is most likely to need live a long life and need long-term care.” 

Other research has shown that lifelong smoking is associated with the shortening of life expectancy by more than 4 years after the age of 50, with the average loss of life from one cigarette calculated to be 11 minutes — equivalent to half an hour of TV watching, according to the researchers’ risk framework.

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A study by researchers at UC Davis examined over 1,300 participants, with the average age of 54 years.   The individuals medical histories were followed to identify vascular disease risk factors, and elevated body mass index, hypertension, obesity, diabetes and smoking.

The researchers acquired measures of vascular disease that are linked with increased vascular damage. The scientists looked at changes in total brain volume, cognitive tests of verbal and spatial memory together with decision-making capabilities measurements.

According to the findings, people with high blood pressure had a faster decline in scores on tests of executive function or decision and planning making, in comparison to those with normal blood pressure.   The researchers noted that their findings revealed that obese participants in the study data were more prone to being in the top 25% of people with a greater decline rate in scores on tests of executive functioning abilities later in life.

The investigation discovered lost brain volume in the hippocampus brain region was faster in participants with diabetes during mid-life, than those without diabetes when they were older. Participants who smoked, lost overall brain volume faster, and were more likely to have a rapid increase in white matter hyper-intensities than non-smokers. 

Over five percent of American adults over age 65 have one or more cognitive disorders according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance  <a href> http://www.aaltci.org </a>.  “These studies continue to point out the importance of healthy lifestyles because millions of Americans will now live into their 80s and 90s,” explains Jesse Slome, AALTCI’s director.

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New research finds that many extremely old people appear to have indulged in poor health habits during their younger years. 

“Millions of Americans are living into their 80s, 90s and even past 100,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  The national organization focuses on educating consumers about the importance of planning for long-term care.

“The research is welcome news for those of us who have difficulty resisting temptation,” Slome notes.  “But of course, your lifestyle choices matter so I wouldn’t drop the gym membership quite yet.”  According to the scientists, genes seem to provide an extra boost to those who end up living the longest. 

They note that the genetic component that allows people to survive into extreme old age is probably a very powerful one.  In their report, they explain that genes and hereditary factors even counteract the effects of unhealthy lifestyle choices. 

The study focused on the genes of extremely old people living independently at ages 95 to 109.  Researchers  asked them to recall things such as their weight, height, alcohol consumption, smoking and their physical activity at age 70.  Those participating were also asked whether they ate a low-calorie, low-fat or low-salt diet at that age. 

All the subjects were Ashkenazi Jews, who share a similar genetic heritage.  The researchers then compared the responses to those from a group of over 3,000 people who took part in a survey in the 1970s. At the time, they were at about the same ages as the elderly subjects who appear in the new study. 

The scientists found that our centenarians by and large did not adhere to any specific healthful diet more than the other population did. It was the same for smoking and exercise. Only 43 percent of men aged 95 and older, for example, reported engaging in regular exercise of moderate intensity, compared with 57 percent of men in the comparison group. 

However, there was one interesting difference. Researchers found that although men and women aged 95 and older were just as likely to be overweight as their counterparts in the general population, the centenarians were significantly less likely to become obese. 

One-third reported a history of family longevity, while 20 percent believed that physical activity also played a role in their long life. Others attributed a positive attitude (19 percent), a busy or active life (12 percent), less smoking and drinking (15 percent), good luck (8 percent), and religion or spirituality (6 percent) to their centenarian status.

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According to a new study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology these factors appear to cause the brain to lose volume.  Some 38.7 million Americans age 65 and older reported having one or more cognitive disorders according to the 2011 Long-Term Care Insurance Almanac published by the American Association for long-Term Care Insurance. 

Health conditions increased the development of lesions secondary to presumed vascular injury, and also appeared to affect its ability to plan and make decisions as quickly as 10 years later.  The findings provide evidence that identifying these risk factors early in people of middle age could be useful in screening people for at-risk dementia and encouraging people to make changes to their lifestyle before it’s too late. 

The study involved over 1,300 people without dementia with an average age of 54.  Participants had body mass and waist circumference measures taken and were given blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes tests. They also underwent brain MRI scans over the span of a decade, the first starting about seven years after the initial risk factor exam. Participants with stroke and dementia at baseline were excluded, and between the first and last MRI exams, 19 people had a stroke and two developed dementia. 

Researchers found that people with high blood pressure developed small areas of vascular brain damage, at a faster rate than those with normal blood pressure readings.  They also had a more rapid worsening of scores on tests of executive function, or planning and decision making, corresponding to five and eight years of chronological aging respectively. 

People with diabetes in middle age lost brain volume in the hippocampus at a faster rate than those without diabetes. Smokers lost brain volume overall at a faster rate than nonsmokers and were also more likely to have a rapid increase in white matter hyperintensities. 

“Unhealthy habits come back to haunt millions at older ages,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the long term care insurance association.  “It creates an increased risk of needing long term care in your 80s and 90s a reason why planning prior to retirement is a must especially for those still in good health.”

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Study findings were published online in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.   For many years, published studies and popular media have perpetuated the myth that smoking is protective against the development of AD on medical researcher commented. 

The disease’s impact on quality of life and health care costs continues to rise notes Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  Smokers do not qualify for the lowest rates for long-term care insurance due to the anticipated added risk.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, 5.3 million Americans currently have the disease, and that number will escalate rapidly as the baby boom generation ages. AD also triples health care costs for Americans aged 65 and older, the organization states. 

The UCSF team conducting the research reviewed 43 published studies from 1984 to 2007. Authors of one-fourth of the studies had an affiliation with the tobacco industry.  The researchers determined that the average risk of a smoker developing AD, based on studies without tobacco industry affiliation, was estimated to be 1.72, meaning that smoking nearly doubled the risk of AD. 

In contrast, the team found that studies authored by individuals with tobacco industry affiliations, showed a risk factor of .86 (less than one), suggesting that smoking protects against AD. When all studies were considered together, the risk factor for developing AD from smoking was essentially neutral at a statistically insignificant 1.05.

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Those spouses who had the highest scores for strain had the highest risk scores for stroke. Strain was measured on a standard score by asking the participants how many days during the past week they had felt depressed, lonely, sad or had crying spells. The answers were matched to the Framingham Stroke Risk Score, which measures risk factors such as age, blood pressure, blood cholesterol levels, smoking and diabetes. 

A high score on the measure of strain was associated with an overall 23 percent higher risk of stroke. The association was stronger in husbands than in wives. It was highest in black men with high caregiving strain, with a 26.9 percent increased risk of stroke in the next 10 years. 

The researchers noted that for the most part, when men are caregivers they use more paid services.  Women are more prepared to be caregivers, and show less risk tied to strain.  

Another study from Sweden found that only half to three-quarters of people who survived strokes were still taking recommended drugs to prevent a new stroke two years later.   The study of more than 21,000 stroke survivors, average age 75, found that two years later, 26 percent had stopped taking drugs to control high blood pressure, 44 percent had stopped taking cholesterol-lowering statins, 36 percent had stopped taking clot-preventing medications and 55 percent were not taking the blood thinner warfarin.

The study is published in the online edition of Stroke.

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Advanced AMD with loss of vision affects about 1.75 million Americans: this figure is expected to rise to just under 3 million by 2020 according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  “Smoking is the second most common risk factor for AMD; age is the first,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the trade group.  “The medical experts show it is never too late to find a reason to quit.” 

Researchers at the Jules Stein Eye Institute at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and colleagues wanted to find out whether age was linked to the effect of smoking on AMD risk.  The research provides the first accurate snapshot of how smoking affects AMD risk later in life.

For the study, researchers compared the retinal photographs of nearly 2,000 women taken at age 78 and 83, looked for signs of AMD and then did logistical regression statistical tests to find out whether smoking affected the women’s risk of developing the disease.

They found that smokers had 11 per cent higher rates of AMD than the non-smokers of the same age.  But among those over age 80, the smokers were 5.5 times more likely to develop AMD than the non-smokers.

The findings were published in the January issue of the American Journal of Ophthalmology.

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The results showed that the quality-adjusted life years lost to obesity are equal to, or greater than, those lost because of smoking.

From 1993 to 2008, the number of adult smokers decreased 18.5 percent and smoking-related quality-adjusted life years lost remained relatively stable at 0.0438 quality-adjusted life years lost per population. Over that same time, the proportion of obese Americans increased 85 percent, resulting in 0.0464 quality-adjusted life years lost. Obesity had a larger effect on disease, while smoking had a greater impact on deaths, the researchers found.

Although life expectancy and quality-adjusted life expectancy have increased over time, the increase in the contribution of mortality to quality-adjusted life years lost from obesity may result in a decline in future life expectancy.

The study is published in the February issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Another recent study concluded that if both smoking and obesity rates in the United States remain unchanged, life expectancy in the nation will be reduced by almost nine months. That study was published in the Dec. 3 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. 

Posted by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  Visit our website to obtain a free quote for this important protection.

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