KEEP FIT TO LIVE LONGER

As a predictor of survival in older people, maintaining cardiorespiratory fitness would seem to be more important than managing traditional risk factors including hypertension, diabetes and smoking. A 10-year follow-up of 6,500 people, aged 70 or older, who had performed a treadmill stress test, showed that a higher level of fitness was associated with lower mortality, while other risk factors held less effect. Ideally all factors should be managed.