An expert has revealed a quick home test that might give you a sneak-peek into your life expectancy . While we can't control genetics or illness, our lifestyle, which includes diet and exercise, can influence how long we may live.
If you're eager to estimate your potential lifespan, a US doctor shared a straightforward technique on NBC's 'Today'. Medical correspondent Dr. Natalie Azar presented the "sit to stand test" on the program, indicating its power to predict early death risk for individuals aged 51 to 80 .
The sit-rising test (SRT) is a window into various factors associated with longevity such as cardiac health, balance, flexibility, leg strength, and core muscular fitness .
What's even better? You won't need any fancy equipment simply space yourself out to comfortably sit down and stand up using just the muscle force of your legs and abdomen . You start with a full score of ten, but for every bit of assistance required to squat or stand, you lose a point. A low tally could be a grim predictor of your lifespan.
Referring to a 2012 study, Dr Azar noted: "The study found that the lower the score, you were seven times more likely to die in the next six years . Eight points or higher is what you want. As we get older, we spend time talking cardiovascular health and aerobic fitness, but balance, flexibility and agility are also really important."
This was revealed in a study by the European Society of Cardiology involving 2,002 participants, with men making up 68 percent of the group . The study focused on their performance in the Sitting-Rising Test (SRT).
The study stated that "Musculoskeletal fitness, as assessed by SRT, was a significant predictor of mortality in 51 to 80-year-old subjects ."
Those who scored the lowest, between zero to three, faced a risk up to six times greater of dying compared to those scoring the highest, between eight to ten .
Shockingly, 40 percent of the participants in the lowest score bracket passed away within 11 years after the study.
Dr Claudio Gil Araujo, who led the study, said: "When compared to other approaches to functional testing the sitting-rising test does not require specific equipment and is safe, easy to apply in a short time period (less than two minutes), and reliably scored. In our clinical practice, the test has been shown over the past ten years to be useful and practical for application to a large spectrum of populations , ranging from paediatric to geriatric.
"If a middle-aged or older man or woman can sit and rise from the floor using just one hand - or even better without the help of a hand - they are not only in the higher quartile of musculoskeletal fitness but their survival prognosis is probably better than that of those unable to do so."
However, it has been observed that those who scored the lowest were often older than those with higher scores. Dr Greg Hartley, associate professor at the University of Miami, warned in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the test may not be entirely accurate .
For all the latest news straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletters here .
"Frailty, strength, muscle mass, physical performance-those things are all correlated to mortality, but I would caution everybody that correlation doesn't mean causation ," he commented.
For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here .
Local News
