"70 Is the New 60": Groundbreaking Study Redefines Aging

[erronis]

https://scitechdaily.com/70-is-the-new-60-groundbreaking-study-redefines-aging/

This is an interesting study. It is only for an English cohort but it should have some parallels for other populations.

Improvements in education, nutrition, and sanitation throughout the 20th century have likely been crucial in enhancing cognitive, motor, psychological, and sensory abilities.

A recent study from the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center at the Mailman School of Public Health highlights notable improvements in the overall health of older adults in England compared to previous generations. Instead of focusing solely on the presence or absence of disease, the research—published in Nature Aging—adopted a novel approach to assess trends in individuals’ functional abilities, including cognitive, locomotor, psychological, and sensory capacities.

Drawing on data from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, the findings reveal that today’s older adults demonstrate better physical and mental functioning than their counterparts of earlier generations at the same age.

“These improvements were large,” said John Beard, MBBS, PhD, Irene Diamond Professor of Aging in Health Policy and Management in the Butler Columbia Aging Center of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and author of the study. For example, a 68-year-old born in 1950 had a similar capacity to a 62-year-old born a decade earlier, and those born in 1940 had better functioning than those born in 1930 or 1920. Beard noted, “If we had compared someone born in 1950 with someone born in 1920, we would have likely observed even greater improvements.”