sealPurdue News

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September 1995

Purdue study uncovers factors in healthy aging past 85

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The secret to successfully adapting to a ripe old age may be as simple as talking daily with friends and meeting change without fear, according to a Purdue University study of relatively healthy people aged 85 and older.

"No one thing contributes to healthy aging," says Peg Krach, associate professor in Purdue's School of Nursing. "One of the big points of doing the study was to learn about healthy aging from those who are doing it fairly well. These 'master survivors' are our teachers."

Krach and her colleagues studied 50 people who had fairly strong mental capabilities and who were living in their own or relatives' homes. They interviewed 34 women and 16 men. The mean age was 89; the oldest subject was 97.

The study found that these factors had a correlation to healthy aging:

Source: Peg Krach, (765) 494-4030; home, (765) 743-2833

Writer: Ellen Rantz, (765) 494-2073; home, (765) 497-0345; Internet, ellen_rantz@purdue.edu


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