Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Clinical and laboratory characteristics of active and healthy aging (AHA) in octogenarian men

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Aging Clinical and Experimental Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

To investigate clinical and laboratory variables associated with good subjective and objective health (“active and healthy aging”, AHA) in a cohort of octogenarian men.

Design

Cross-sectional analyses of a longitudinal study.

Setting

The Helsinki Businessmen Study in Finland.

Participants

A socioeconomically homogenous cohort of men (baseline n = 3293), born in 1919–1934, has been followed up from the 1960s. From 2000, the men have been regularly sent mailed questionnaires and mortality has been retrieved from national registers.

Measurements

In 2010 survey, AHA was defined as independently responding to the mailed survey, feeling happy without cognitive or functional impairments and without major diseases. In 2010/11, a random subgroup men was clinically investigated and survivors with healthy and nonhealthy aging were compared.

Results

By 2010, 1788 men of the baseline cohort had died, and 894 men responded to the mailed survey. 154 (17.2 %) of those fulfilled the present AHA criteria. Increasing number of criteria were negatively (P < 0.001) related to short-term mortality. In 2011, a random sample of 458 men were clinically investigated, 90 of them with AHA. Men with AHA had higher serum LDL cholesterol and diastolic blood pressure (partially explained by less frequent drug use) but no significant difference was observed in other risk factors. Men with AHA had significantly faster walking speed (P < 0.001), stronger handgrip (P = 0.017), better self-rated health and less phenotypic frailty (P = 0.02).

Conclusion

Less than 5 % enjoyed active and healthy aging over their life course, which was significantly related to markers of frailty but not to the traditional vascular risk factors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Fries JF (1980) Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. NEJM 303:130–135

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Rowe JW, Kahn RL (1987) Human aging: usual and successful. Science 237:143–149

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Depp CA, Jeste DV (2006) Definitions and predictors of successful aging: a comprehensive review of larger quantative studies. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 14:6–20

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Bowling A (2007) Aspirations for older age in the 21st century: what is successful aging? Int J Aging Hum Dev 64:263–297

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Guralnik JM (2008) Successful aging. Is it in our future? Arch Intern Med 168:131–132

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Willcox BJ, Willcox DC, Ferrucci L (2008) Secrets of healthy aging and longevity from exceptional survivors around the globe: lessons from octogenarians to supercentenarians. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 63A:1181–1185

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Jeste DV, Depp CA, Vahia IV (2010) Successful cognitive and emotional aging. World Psychiatry 9:78–84

    PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Kivimäki M, Ferrie JE (2011) Epidemiology of healthy aging and the idea of more refined outcome measures. Int J Epidemiol 40:845–847

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Farrelly C (2012) “Positive biology” as a new paradigm for the medical sciences. EMBO Rep 13:186–188

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Fries JF (2012) The theory and practice of active aging. Curr Gerontol Geriatric Res. doi:10.1155/2012/420637

    Google Scholar 

  11. Romo RD, Wallhagen MI, Yourman L et al (2012) Perceptions of successful aging among diverse elders with late-life disability. Gerontologist 53:939–949

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Willcox B (2012) Successful aging: is there hope? CMAJ 184:1973–1974

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Willcox BJ, He Q, Chen R et al (2006) Midlife risk factors and healthy survival in men. JAMA 296:2343–2350

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Gruenwald TL, Karlamangla AS, Greendale GA, Singer BH, Seeman TE (2007) Feeling of usefulness to others, disability, and mortality in older adults. The MacArthur study of successful aging. J Geront Psychol Sci 62B:P28–P37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Britton A, Shipley M, Singh-Manoux A, Marmot MG (2008) Successful aging: the contribution of early-life and midlife risk factors. J Am Geriatr Soc 56:1098–1105

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Chakravarty EF, Hubert HB, Krishnan E, Bruce BB, Lingala VB, Fries JF (2012) Lifestyle risk factors predict disability and death in healthy aging adults. Am J Med 125:190–197

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Nosraty L, Sarkeala T, Hervonen A, Jylhä M (2012) Is there successful aging for nonagenarians? The vitality 90+ study. J Aging Res 2012:868797. doi:10.1155/2012/868797

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Sabia S, Singh-Manoux A, Hagger-Johnson G, Cambois E, Brunner EJ, Kivimäki M (2012) Influence of individual and combined healthy behaviours on successful aging. CMAJ 184:1985–1992

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Warsch JRL, Rundek T, Paik MC, Elkind MSV, Sacco RL, Wright CB (2013) Association between northern Manhattan study global vascular risk score and successful aging. J Am Geriatr Soc 61:519–524

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Samieri C, Sun Q, Townsend MK et al (2013) The association between dietary patterns at midlife and health in aging: an observational study. Ann Intern Med 159:584–591

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Strandberg TE, Strandberg A, Rantanen K, Salomaa VV, Pitkälä K, Miettinen TA (2004) Low choles terol, mortality, and quality of life in old age during a 39-year follow-up. J Am Coll Cardiol 44(1):1002–1008

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Hays RD, Morales LS (2001) The RAND-36 measure of health-related quality of life. Ann Med 33:350–357

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Aalto A-M, Aro AR, Teperi J (1999) RAND-36 as a measure of health-related quality of life. Reliability, construct validity, and reference values in the Finnish general population. Helsinki: Stakes. Res Rep 101:1–78

    Google Scholar 

  24. Strandberg TE, Strandberg AY, Pitkälä KH, Salomaa VV, Tilvis RS, Miettinen TA (2008) Chocolate, well-being and health among elderly men. Eur J Clin Nutr 62:247–253

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Fried LP, Tangen CM, Walston J, Newman AB, Hirsch C, Gottdiener J et al (2001) Frailty in older adults:evidence for a phenotype. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci 56(3):M146–M156

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Tilvis RS, Valvanne JN, Strandberg TE, Miettinen TA (2011) Prognostic significance of serum cholesterol, lathosterol, and sitosterol in old age; a 17-year population study. Ann Med 43(4):292–301

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Studenski S, Perera S, Patel K et al (2011) Gait speed and survival in older adults. JAMA 5(305):50–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

KKR has received minor speaker’s fees from various pharmaceutical companies not related to the subject of this paper. TES has received grant support from the King Gustaf V and Queen Victoria Frimurarestiftelse, the Oulu University Hospital, and the Helsinki Central University Hospital and had various cooperation with several pharmaceutical companies. TES serves as the current president of the European Union Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS). AYS had various cooperation with several pharmaceutical companies. SSS is supported by the Academy of Finland (Grant numbers 264944 and 273850). KHP reports no disclosures. VVS reports no disclosures. RST reports no disclosures.

Conflict of interest

The funding sources had no role in the design and conduct of the study; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of the data; or in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript. The authors have no potential conflict of interest relevant to this article.

Human and Animal Rights

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the author.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, P. O. Box 340, 00029 HUCH, Helsinki, Finland

    Kirsi K. Rantanen

  2. Department of Medicine, Geriatric Clinic, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Timo E. Strandberg & Arto Y. Strandberg

  3. Unit of General Practice, Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, and University Hospital, Oulu, Finland

    Timo E. Strandberg

  4. National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Turku, Finland

    Sari S. Stenholm & Veikko V. Salomaa

  5. National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland

    Sari S. Stenholm & Veikko V. Salomaa

  6. Department of Public Health, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Sari S. Stenholm

  7. Unit of General Practice, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Kaisu H. Pitkälä

  8. Department of Medicine, Geriatric clinic, Helsinki Central University Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Reijo S. Tilvis

Authors
  1. Kirsi K. Rantanen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Timo E. Strandberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sari S. Stenholm
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Arto Y. Strandberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Kaisu H. Pitkälä
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Veikko V. Salomaa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Reijo S. Tilvis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kirsi K. Rantanen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Rantanen, K.K., Strandberg, T.E., Stenholm, S.S. et al. Clinical and laboratory characteristics of active and healthy aging (AHA) in octogenarian men. Aging Clin Exp Res 27, 581–587 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0329-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-015-0329-0

Keywords

Search

Navigation