Leaving the House and Longevity

Here’s an important finding about the importance of social contact and interacting with the outside world. Researchers at the Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem found that for older people, getting out of the house regularly may contribute to a longer life. They asked people in their 70s, 80s and 90s, how often they left the house and found that those who ventured out frequently were most likely to live to the next age milestone regardless of medical problems or mobility issues. The work published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society compared the benefits to treating blood pressure or cholesterol with medicine. At all ages, people who left home less frequently tended to be male, less educated and to have higher rates of loneliness, financial difficulties, and poor health. The scientists now plan to look at the oldest cohort as they reach 98 to 100 to study the role that optimism, social engagement and environmental aspects such as community sidewalks play in longer life.