LONGEVITY FACTORS FOR MEN

Get a good education. Get married. Don’t gain weight. These are some of the keys to long life for Zoomer men, according to a US study. In fact, nine factors in all were identified as good predictors of which 50-plus men would live healthily into their 80s and beyond, according to a 40-year study of nearly 6,000 Japanese-American men living in Hawaii. The study, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, concluded men were more likely to remain healthy, vigorous and disability-free at older ages, if they avoided certain risk factors. The risks linked to insulin levels such as being overweight, having high blood sugar, high triglycerides and high blood pressure— are strong indicators of whether men will survive to old age and whether they will be healthy if they do. Men are also more likely to live longer, if they possess a strong grip which indicates overall strength and fitness, have low blood sugar, avoid heavy drinking, and don’t smoke. The study found that men who followed the healthful criteria had an 80 percent chance of living to age 80 and a better than 60 percent of being healthy at that age. On the other hand, those with six or more of these risk factors had less than a 10 percent chance of living in their mid-80s.