| Can a firm grip and good balance lead to a longer life? Studies shows that test subjects with good strength, speed and balance are likely to outlive their weaker peersIf you have a firm grip and can stand on one leg, it may indicate that you are heading for a long life, according to a new study.Grip strength and single leg balance are two of four markers for physical ability examined by researchers from the Medical Research Council's unit for lifelong health and ageing. The other factors were speed of rising from a chair and walking pace.People who were faster, stronger or better balanced in these tests, say the researchers today in a paper published online by the British Medical Journal, were likely to outlive their slower and weaker peers.The object of the research was to work out whether these simple physical measures could be used to identify older people living in their own homes who might need more help.The MRC team reviewed 57 studies that had measured people's abilities in one of these four tests and had gone on to record their subsequent death. The team excluded any studies of people who were suffering from specific diseases.In one of the tests – grip strength, which is measured by squeezing a handle as hard as possible – studies in people aged under 60 had been carried out.The team found there was a link between weaker performance in the tests and earlier death. "We have found evidence of associations between all four measures of physical capability investigated (grip strength, walking speed, chair rises and standing balance) and all cause mortality," they write. "People in community dwelling populations who perform less well in these tests were consistently found to be at higher risk for death."They found that the stronger the performance in the tests, the more likely the participant was to live longer.In 14 studies (involving 53,500 people) that dealt with grip strength, the death rate among the weakest was 1.67 times greater than among the strongest, after taking age, sex and body size into account.In five studies (involving 14,700 people) that dealt with walking speed, the death rate among those who were slowest was 2.87 times greater than among the people who were fastest, after similar adjustments. In five studies (involving 28,000 people) that dealt with the speed at which seated volunteers stood up and sat down again), the death rate of those who were slowest was almost twice the rate of the fastest.The researchers say there are several possible explanations for the findings – one of which is possible skewing of the results because, for instance, the studies did not record and adjust for the socioeconomic circumstances and physical activity levels of the participants.Secondly, it is possible that the results simply reflected the general health status and underlying disease of the volunteers.But, they point out, the same association between performance and mortality risk was seen in the grip strength studies, which included a younger and presumably healthier population.The MRC team would like to see further trials done in younger people, to find out whether it is possible to spot those who may be at risk of an earlier death.But ultimately, they would like to know whether physical interventions – such as exercise programmes to improve people's fitness, grip strength, walking speed and so on – would result in longer lives.Dr Rachel Cooper of the ageing unit said: "Simple noninvasive assessment measures like these, that are linked to current and future health, could help doctors identify those most vulnerable to poor health in later life and who may benefit from early intervention to keep them active for longer."HealthAgeingMedical researchSarah Boseleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Study shows latest government spill estimate right By SETH BORENSTEIN 2010-09-23T18:01:39ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- After several missteps, the federal government finally got it right, accurately estimating how much oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, an independent scientific study found.... hosted.ap.org |
Research not jeopardised by staffing numbers A senior CSIRO manager says researchers at regional laboratories are doing administrative duties - but that is not neccessarily a bad thing. abc.net.au |
Facebook admits privacy breach Facebook has admitted that some of its applications have been transmitting user information to advertising companies. abc.net.au |
Guardian Style digested, by John Crace | Mind your language Grammar is the set of rules followed by speakers of a language, innit? By everyone except Guardian writersWelcome to the latest edition of Guardian Style, a book that will be as little read by Guardian journalists as the previous ones, if the number of inaccuracies in the paper are anything to go by.But for the rest of you who take an interest in the dustier reaches of the English language, I thought I'd use this space to highlight the changes the hacks are sure to ignore.Grammar is the set of rules followed by speakers of a language, innit? By everyone except Guardian writers, that is, so I have pulled together all the dreary grammatical stuff on commas, colons and split infinitives to the front in the hope – rather than expectation – that just one member of staff bothers to have a look before putting their complimentary copy on eBay.Over the years it has distressed me greatly to see that Guardian journalists consistently try to write foreign languages in a way that would be intelligible to native speakers. Quite simply this has to stop. Allowing the odd acute accent to prevent lame being read as lame is as far as I am prepared to go.It's time that Johnny Foreigner met us halfway. The day the Frogs stop calling the English Channel La Manche and call it La Manche Anglaise is the day I use a circumflex.Occasionally, however, I do bow to public demand. In the last edition I arbitrarily changed aeroplane to airplane. This triggered the largest number of complaints I've ever had. Three.So after several years of lengthy deliberation, I have concluded aeroplane is indeed the correct usage.it has also been said we go further than most in lowercasing words. this is because we are quite trendy and the designers say it looks better on the page. The only capitals that are therefore allowed are either those that aPPear for no good reason in the middle of words or when we want to deliberately annoy EE Cummings. By the way, much against my better judgment, I've been dragged screaming and kicking into the 20th century and forced to allow split infinitives in exceptional circumstances.Talking of which, new technology gives me a real headache.No sooner have I worked out whether or not to hyphen email – most definitely not! –than some Californian invents some newfangled thingy and I lose hours of sleep deciding whether a Blackberry is a BlackBerry. Someone has to worry about these things.I've lost count of the number of times we fail to differentiate between goths and Goths. Am I the only one to spot that one of them has a capital letter? But as long as our writers continue to get it wrong, I will continue to point out the error of their ways.Because I'm that type of person and I haven't got much else to do. I also intend to make sure we address Nick Clegg's wife correctly. Her name is Miriam González Durántez. Do not call her Miriam Clegg or Mrs Clegg. Though Mrs C is obviously fine.These are just a few of the excitements you will find in the new edition of Guardian Style.I will leave you to discover the rest for yourself. But before I do, I'm afraid I must introduce one sour note. Swearing has become commonplace in everyday conversation and Guardian writers have proved more foul-mouthed than most. Much to my dismay, we printed 705 "fucks" last year – 704 of them in the newspaper's digested read. For that my sincere apologies.John Crace's digested read appears regularly in G2LanguageJohn Craceguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |