The American Geriatrics Society has concluded that women are not only experiencing a shorter lifespan but they’re also experiencing a decrease in their quality of life in their senior years. This is being caused by a combination of arthritis and obesity.
Research Regarding Women with Osteoarthritis and Obesity
Although it still appears that females can expect to live longer than males they’re also at a greater risk of living with a lot of disabilities because of these two factors. This is something that Dr. Heather Whitson from Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, North Carolina has noted.
To arrive at her discovery Dr. Whitson enrolled 5,888 men and women over the age of 65 in what she entitled the Cardiovascular Health Study. In this study, Dr. Whitson and her colleagues looked at the number of disabilities that occurred amongst males and females in the same age bracket.
Researcher’s Discoveries
The Cardiovascular Health Study discovered that women were as much as two and a half times more likely than men to suffer from disabilities later in their lives. About 48% of the gender gap that existed here could be explained by a combination of arthritis and obesity. This is something that is important to understand because it suggests that when females gain extra weight during their child-bearing and peri-menopausal years they’re more likely to suffer from more disabilities as seniors. Therefore it’s important for these women to not gain weight during this time.
The study’s lead investigator, Dr. Harvey Jay Cohen is also the director of Duke’s Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. Cohen believes that the study’s findings are especially troubling when you think about how many females are overweight. This is why it’s important to help them make better life decisions.
Additionally, when a female is overweight or has arthritis they’re more likely to fracture their bones than men. They’re also more likely to develop vision problems and bronchitis. On the other hand, men are more likely to develop congestive heart failure, diabetes, emphysema, hearing problems, heart disease, and stroke.
The next step researchers want to take is to see if older, disabled females caused by being overweight or suffering from osteoarthritis can regain function by losing weight and gaining control over their pain.
Besides concerning yourself with things like arthritis and obesity you should also be concerned about your hearing. For this, you’ll want to schedule an appointment with Countryside Hearing Aid Services in Clearwater and Pinellas County today.
Picture Credit: 123rf.com