The Answer to Long Life For Men is 9

The answer to long life for men is......9! Nine factors appear to increase middle aged men's chances of reaching into their 80s- A strong grip, being married, not smoking, not being overweight, low levels of bad cholesterol, a good education, avoiding excessive amounts of alcohol, maintaining a normal blood sugar and having a normal blood pressure.

A 40 year follow up study of 5820 men by researchers within the Honolulu Heart Program/Honolulu Asia Aging Study began in 1965 when the men had an average age of 54. Eighty per cent of the men who reached 80 years of age met all 9 criteria and avoided illness more. Forty two per cent of the men lived until they were 85 and 11% of avoided major chronic diseases and no physical or psychological impairments.

If you avoid the 9 risk factors you have more than a 60% chance of being healthy in old age. If you have had 6 or more of the risk factors you have less than a 10% chance of living into your mid 80s.
Source: Willcox, Bradley J., Qimei He, Randi Chen, and Katsuhiko Yano et al. "Midlife Risk Fcators and Healthy Survival in Men." Journal of the American Medical Association. 296(2006): 2343-50.

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