New research suggests that even people who develop such illnesses as heart disease and diabetes can live to be 100.
The Boston University study, published last week in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, shows that of the people age 100 or older surveyed, about a third had been living with chronic diseases for years. And that may come as a revelation to many Americans.
“A lot of people think that if you have major age-related diseases for 15 or 20 years, that you’re not going to make it to very old age,” Dellara Terra, lead author of the study, told National Public Radio. “These are folks who not only made it — but they made it to age 100.”
Population figures show that the over-85 set is the fastest-growing age group among older Americans. About 55,000 of these people are at least 100, and the prospects for more people reaching such an advanced age increases as medicine and people’s lifestyle choices improve.
An unrelated Harvard University study, also published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that most people who lived to be very old engaged in such physical activity as walking two to four times a week. Laurel Yates, author of that study, said it suggests that people who live longer are living better, more active lives.
And that’s important. As Boston University geriatrician Robert Hall told NPR, “aging isn’t for sissies.” Living to 100 typically means outliving one’s spouse, friends and even children. People should continue making new friends and engaging in new pursuits as they grow older, he said.
That’s not easy in our youth-oriented society. Face it, if iPods were meant to be read with bifocals, the screens would be larger.
“There’s so much ageism in this society that constantly reminds older people, ‘You can’t do this; you can’t do that,’ ” Hall said.
Ah, yes. But age — and the frustration of trying to text-message with those teeny buttons — will catch up with everyone, eventually.
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