Wish you could foresee what your health will be like when you’re 65 years old? It turns out that four factors at age 55 provide a prediction of your health at age 65. This particular 10 years (from age 55 to 65) appears to be a key decade in which your health status and factors such as lifestyle habits seem to set you on a certain course in your older years.
While most women who are middle-aged are stable when it comes to their health, there is a percentage of the population who are higher risk for health issues, and being able to predict the future health of women in this higher risk group would allow for health professionals to proactively help these women change their lifestyles early on, well ahead of a poor health diagnosis at age 65.
The four key factors? These factors at age 55, that are associated with a decline in physical health at age 65, as determined in a new study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston are: high body mass index (BMI), smoking, arthritis and depressive symptoms.
The study, which was published in JAMA Network Open, was reported on at healthday.com, where you can get more details about the data used and learn how researchers are looking to take the study’s findings into clinical practice to help women stay on a healthy course.
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