OT: The Longevity Game

Here's a fun little calculator that estimates your expected life span, based on your BMI, driving record, exercise and smoking habits, and so forth. It's from Northwestern Mutual, the life insurance people. (I have no business association with them.)

Click here for link

I don't have detailed information on the calculations used, but the initial page suggests that actuarial data was used to model the outcomes. Give it a try and see how your habits influence the numbers...

Thanks to Chuck Cooper for showing me this!

Vitamin D: the under-appreciated wonder-vitamin?

We all think of Vitamin D as "the sunshine vitamin", something that's good for your bones and as a supplement in milk. It turns out that this humble vitamin may have a whole lot more going for it.

A number of scientific studies have been looking at the links between Vitamin D deficiency and various disease states, and the results are quite startling.

Low or deficient Vitamin D levels have been found in association with:
- obesity & pre-diabetes,
- heart disease and stroke,
- metabolic syndrome,
- high blood pressure,
- elevated cholesterol,
- neurodegenerative diseases, such as MS and Parkinson's
- certain forms of cancer,
- seasonal affective disorder (SAD),
- some autoimmune diseases.


Now, before you get too excited, association is not the same as "the cause". It's like saying red paint is found in association with fast Italian sports cars...it doesn't mean that the paint makes the car go faster, right? Similarly, taking supplements has not yet been proven to bestow these health benefits...but the linkage is extremely interesting. Many experts now feel that the recommended daily dose of vitamin D should be increased, but opinions vary on what the new level should be.

Studies are now underway, however, to investigate this very point - and in particular, whether vitamin D supplementation (2000 units per day) can result in measurable health benefits.

If there is a causal connection, Vitamin D supplements, which are cheap, widely available, and have few side effects, could be a big player in health optimization.

Nice write-up also in the New York Times (link)

Women: Exercise now for good health later!

A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine gives further evidence to the linkage between exercise and good health. The study, entitled "Physical Activity at Midlife in Relation to Successful Survival in Women at Age 70 Years or Older" looked at 13,500 women, who were part of the Nurses' Health Study who had survived to age 70 years or older, without any of 10 major chronic diseases, open heart surgery or cognitive or physical impairment.

The Nurses' Health Study, just to give a little background, is considered the "grandmother" of women's health studies and represents the single largest "cohort" study of women, in which the same patients were followed and monitored over many years. It has resulted in more than 265 published scientific papers. The study was established in 1976, with the initial idea of studying the relationship between oral contraceptives, cigarette smoking and the risk of major illnesses. Thanks to the dedication and commitment of the participants, the scope and range of the study has broadened over time to evaluate other lifestyle factors, as well.

Using data from this group, the Harvard-based researchers found that higher physical activity levels at midlife were significantly associated with better odds of successful survival. Regular walking also was found to have a beneficial effect, but not quite as much as more vigorous exercise. Women in the upper 40% of activity were between 1.34 and 1.99 (for the top 20%) times more likely to successfully make it to age 70 without major health issues, compared to women in the lowest 20% of activity.

Now, if we could just find a way to make exercise fun!