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What Mick Jagger Can Teach Us About Growing Old Gracefully

  |  Issue: February 2013  |  

But if you choose not to run, consider walking fast. A detailed meta-analysis of nine previous longitudinal cohort studies of adults aged 65 and older found that gait speed is the index that correlates strongest with survival. A speed exceeding 0.8 m/s predicted longevity exceeding the median for age and sex.7 So rest easy, Sir Mick. I clocked you at an impressive 2.6 m/s onstage. Keep on rocking!

Dr. Helfgott is physician editor of The Rheumatologist and associate professor of medicine in the division of rheumatology, immunology, and allergy at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

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References

  1. Goto M. Inflammaging (inflammation + aging): A driving force for human aging based on an evolutionarily antagonistic pleiotropy theory? BioSci Trends. 2008;2:218-230.
  2. Franceschi C, Capri M, Monti D, et al. Inflammaging and anti-inflammaging: A systemic perspective on aging and longevity emerged from studies in humans. Mech Ageing Dev. 2007;128:92-105.
  3. Goronzy JJ, Fujii H, Weyand CM. Telomeres, immune aging and autoimmunity. Exp Gerontol. 2006;41:246–51.
  4. Crowson CS, Liang KP, Therneau TM, Kremers HM, Gabriel SE. Could accelerated aging explain the excess mortality in patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis? Arthritis Rheum. 2010;62:378-382.
  5. Sebastiani P, Perls TT. The genetics of extreme longevity: Lessons from the New England centenarian study front. Gene. 2012;3:277.
  6. Chakravarty EF, Hubert HB, Lingala VB, Fries JF. Reduced disability and mortality among aging runners. A 21-year longitudinal study. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:1638-1646.
  7. Studenski S, Perera S, Patel K, et al. Gait speed and survival in older adults. JAMA. 2011;305:50-58.

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