NBC News
A simple test, although not necessarily easy, can help predict how many years a person has life, according to researchers of physical exercise who have been tracking thousands of medium and advanced age.
The test of sitting and getting up requires enough balance, muscle strength and flexibility to be able to sit on the floor without using the arms, hands or knees and then get up again without help. This movement allows to determine non -aerobic aptitude and reveals possible problems that could otherwise go unnoticed, according to a report published Wednesday in the European Journal of Prevent Cardiology.
The team of the Medicine Clinic of Rio de Janeiro recruited 4,282 adults, mostly men, aged between 46 and 75 years. After evaluating the health of the participants, the researchers presented the test.
Using A five -point zero systemthe participants obtained a perfect score if they were able to move from standing vertically to sit on the floor without touching anything when you go down.
Each part of the body, for example a hand, an elbow or a knee, which would be used to guide or help maintain balance remained a point of the total. He also lost half a point to stagger. Upon uploading, points were subtracted if the limbs played something.
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Twelve years later, the researchers followed the participants. By then, there were 665 deaths in total for “natural causes”, according to the researchers.
The vast majority of those who obtained a perfect score were still alive in the follow -up, compared to just over 9 out of 10 of those who had lost two points and, what is dramatic, just under half of those who had scores between 0 and 4.
Among the initially diagnosed participants of heart disease, those who obtained low scores in the test were more likely to have died at age 12.
The aerobic physical form is important, but the muscular strength, a healthy body mass index (BMI), balance and flexibility are also vital to age with health, said Dr. Claudio Gil Araújo, Director of Research and Education of the Clinic and Principal Author of the study. People can improve their deficiencies and get better results in the test.
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Although the study does not directly relate a perfect score to longevity, “It’s quite reasonable to wait for it”Araújo said.
The new findings are part of an increasingly wide field of longevity. Other recent investigations include a balance test: people who could not stand up for 10 seconds on one foot were almost twice as likely to die in the following decade than those who managed to do so.
Keith Diaz, Professor of Behavior Medicine of the Medical Center of the University of Columbia, indicated that the new test can serve doctors to initiate a conversation that makes patients reflect on what is needed to age healthy.
If someone gets a bad score, “you could get to work on its flexibility and balance,” Díaz added. “If the patient has trouble getting up from the ground, it could be an alarm signal for his general health.”
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Dr. Joseph Herrera, head of the Department of Rehabilitation and Human Performance of the Mount Sinai Health System, warned that for someone who cannot get up and sit with success without help, There are ways to improve.
Weight training, balance training and flexibility improvement can help.
Other tests that have become popular, Herrera said, include the six -minute walk, where the point is to see how far the person can travel at that time; And the proof of sitting to stand, in which the patient is asked to sit in a chair, then get up and then sit down again in 30 seconds.
“We should consider the results of these tests as pieces of a puzzle”He said.
