There is a simple test you can do at home that can give you a hint as to what your life expectancy will be.
Although factors such as genetics and disease are not up to us, lifestyle choices such as diet and exercise play a role in how long we will live. But if you're curious about your potential life expectancy, according to an American doctor, there's now an easy method to determine it. As shown on the US Today programme, BBC medical contributor Dr Natalie Azar demonstrated the 'sit and stand test', which shows how likely people aged between 51 and 80 are to die prematurely. The sit-stand test, or SRT as it is also known, gives insight into various aspects related to longevity, with a focus on heart health, stability, agility, core and muscle strength in the legs, as well as how stretchy you are, the Express reported.
And the best part? No special equipment is needed, just enough room to squat down and jump back up using only leg and abdominal strength. Start with a perfect score of ten points, but take away one point each time you need a little help to stand or sit up. Accumulating a small number of points can mean bad news for your longevity prospects. Citing a 2012 study, Dr Azar said:
"The study found that the lower the score, the more likely you are to die in the next 6 years. 8 or more points is what you want. As we get older, we spend time talking about cardiovascular health and aerobic fitness, but balance, flexibility and agility are also very important."
The European Society of Cardiology published a study involving 2,002 participants, 68% of whom were men, looking at their performance in the sit-stand test (SRT).
It states that "musculoskeletal fitness assessed by the SRT is a significant predictor of mortality in individuals aged 51 to 80 years." Individuals with the lowest scores, ranging from zero to three, were at up to 6 times greater risk of death than those who scored the highest, between 8 and 10. A staggering 40% of participants in the lowest-scoring group died within 11 years of the study.
Study leader Dr Claudio Gil Araujo mentioned:
"Compared to other functional testing approaches, the sit-to-stand test requires no specific equipment and is safe, easy to administer in a short period of time (less than 2 minutes) and reliably assessed. In our clinical practice over the past 10 years, the test has proven to be useful and practical to administer to a large spectrum of populations ranging from pediatric to geriatric."
"If a middle-aged or older man or woman can sit up and get up off the floor using only one arm - or even better without the aid of an arm - they are not only in the upper quartile of musculoskeletal fitness, but their prognosis for survival is likely better than those who cannot," Araujo said.
However, it has been noted that typically the individuals with the lowest scores are often older than those with higher scores. Dr. Greg Hartley, an associate professor at the University of Miami, cautions in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the test may not be completely accurate.
"Weakness, strength, muscle mass, physical performance - all of these things are associated with mortality, but I would caution everyone that correlation does not imply causation," he notes. | BGNES
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