This quick, but not so easy test can predict how long you will live, the study suggests

A simple, but not necessarily easy test can help predict the number of years of a person, according to researchers in practice who have followed thousands of middle ages and older for more than a decade.

The rise in the rise Requires enough balance, muscle strength and flexibility to be able to sit on the ground without using the arms, hands or knees, then to stand just as without help. Movement is a way to determine the non -aerobic physical form and reveals potential problems that could be missed otherwise, according to the new report published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology on Wednesday.

The team of the Rio de Janeiro exercise clinic recruited 4,282 adults, mainly men, aged 46 to 75. After evaluating the health of the participants, the researchers presented the test for them.

Using a five -point zero system, the participants obtained a perfect score if they could stand up standing on the ground without touching anything down.

Each part of the body, say a hand or elbow or a knee, which was used to guide or help in balance resulted in a total subtraction. People have also lost half a point to be wobbly. On the way back, the points were subtracted if the ends touched something.

Twelve years later, the researchers followed the participants. At that time, there had been 665 deaths overall due to “natural causes”, revealed the researchers.

The vast majority of perfect scorers were still alive, against just over 9 out of 10 of those who had lost two points and, spectacularly, a little less than half of those who have scores between 0 and 4.

Among the participants initially diagnosed with heart disease, people with low test scores were more likely to be died at 12 years old.

The aerobic form is important but muscle strength, a healthy body mass index, or BMI, balance and flexibility are also vital for healthy aging, said Dr. Claudio Gil Araújo, director of research and clinical education and the main study of the study. People can improve their deficits, then mark better on the test.

Although the study does not directly link a perfect score to longevity, “it is quite reasonable to expect,” said Araújo.

New discoveries are part of an increasing area of ​​longevity. Other recent research includes a balance test: people who could not bear 10 seconds on one foot were almost twice as likely to die in the following 10 years as those who could manage balance.

Keith Diaz, professor of behavioral medicine at the Columbia University Medical Center, said that the new test can be a conversation starter so that doctors have made you think about what it takes for healthy aging.

If someone is bad, “you might be able to start working on his flexibility and balance,” said Diaz. “If the patient is struggling to get off the ground, it could be a red flag for his overall health.”

Dr. Joseph Herrera, president of the Ministry of Rehabilitation and Human Performance of the Mount Sinai Health System, warned that for someone who cannot get up and sit successfully without help, there are ways to improve.

Weight training, equilibrium formation and improving flexibility can help.

The other tests that have become popular, said Herrera include six -minute walking, where the goal is to see how far the person can travel in six minutes; And the sit-to-stand test, in which the patient is invited to sit on a chair, then get out of a chair, then sit again five times in 30 seconds.

“We should examine the results of these tests as parts of a puzzle,” he said.