Age Warrior Call to Battle: Let’s Not Become Burdens!

Read yesterday’s tirade for background on today’s discussion. LOL.

The study I mentioned yesterday will be printed in the January 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health. The research team, lead by Dr. Teresa E. Seeman, PhD and Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at UCLA, analyzed data from two National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (1988-1994 and 1994-2004) to assess trends in basic activities of daily living for adults in their 60s. They found significant increases in reported disability in the more recent surveys.

Not wanting to become one of the predicted “heavy burdens on families and society”, my first reaction was to rationalize the conclusion away. Since the data come from surveys, perhaps people are simply more open about how badly they feel these days.

However, the facts are that people in the more recent survey data were 70% more likely to report having difficulty with basic activities of daily life such as getting out of bed, eating, dressing, walking from room to room, preparing meals and/or managing money.

Couple that ominous trend with the fact that U.S. life expectancies continue to climb and you have more and more people living longer while unable to perform basic tasks of daily life. Twenty years ago 13% of those in their 60s reported themselves to be so-disabled. Ten years ago, that number was 20%.

A 65-year old in 1980 could expect to live to age 81 while a 65-year old in 2005 could expect to live three additional years to age 84 (United States Center for Disease Control, National Center for Health Statistics, 2009).

Tomorrow, how can we reverse this trend?

Tags: avoid disability, boomer wake-up call, age-appropriate exercise, anti-aging supplements, drink in moderation, stop smoking, healthy lifestyle choices, quality of life