Ability to Stand Up After Sitting on Floor may Influence Mortality

Your ability to stand up unaided after sitting on the floor could be an indicator of your mortality after a new study published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention revealed that people over 50 years of age who are not able to stand up without any help were six times more likely to die compared to those who got up without any problems. The study was conducted by researchers at Clinimex-Exercise Medicine Clinic in Rio de Janeiro who conducted a simple sitting and standing test on more than 2,000 middle aged men and women in 2002 and then followed them up six years later or until their death.

In total around 159 people died during the period with an average mortality rate of 7.9 percent. However those who were not able to get up without any help were six times more likely to die prematurely.

“It is well known that aerobic fitness is strongly related to survival, but our study also shows that maintaining high levels of body flexibility, muscle strength, power-to-body weight ratio and co-ordination are not only good for performing daily activities, but have a favorable influence on life expectancy”, lead researcher Dr Claudio Gil Araujo said.

Source-Medindia