Physical ability test rates the likelihood of dying.

Who knew that even at the age of 53 you can get an idea about your risk of dying without doing extensive laboratory testing. Put another way, it can give you an indication of how likely you are to achieve a long and healthy life.

The reviewed research tested 1355 men and 1411 women at age 53 and followed them for 13 years(Cooper R, et al. 2014). The three tests consisted of grip strength, chair rise speed and standing balance time. The chair rise speed was done by timing how long it took to rise from a sitting position to standing with straight back and legs, and then sit down again 10 complete times as fast as possible.

The results suggested that the participants that were in the lowest one-fifth when it came to performance were almost four times as likely to die during the follow up compared to the ones in the highest one-fifth. The participants that were not able to do any of the tests were more than eight times more likely to die than the best performers.

This shows how important it is to stay in good shape even at middle age. Keep in mind that these tests, even if they were testing physical ability, also reflected on the biochemistry of the body, since balance is affected by receptors and the health of the nervous system. The nervous system is again affected by free radicals related to the food we eat and our lifestyle.

Cooper R¹, Strand BH, Hardy R, Patel KV, Kuh D. Physical capability in mid-life and survival over 13 years of follow-up: British birth cohort study. BMJ. 2014 Apr 29;348:g2219. doi: 10.1136/bmj.g2219.