Thursday, January 03, 2008

If You're Reading This, You're....

...Likely to live longer!

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Health Literacy Leads to Longer Life

(NewsTarget) Higher health literacy is directly correlated with a longer life, according to a new study published in Archives of Internal Medicine. Researchers gathered health and demographic information via interviews with 3,260 Medicare patients over the age of 64, and also gave them tests to determine how well they were able to read and understand health information. After a follow-up period of approximately 5.7 years, the researchers consulted the National Death Index to determine which of the participants had died.

The health literacy test involved reading two passages and solving four mathematic problems; participants received a score from zero to 100. Those with scores of 55 or lower were defined as having inadequate health literacy; those with scores of 56 to 66 were defined as having marginal health literacy; and those with scores above 66 percent were defined as having adequate health literacy.

The researchers found that participants with inadequate health literacy were significantly more likely to die during the follow-up period than participants with adequate health literacy. This correlation held true even after demographics, socioeconomic status and participants' health behaviors at the beginning of the study were adjusted for. The researchers further found that formal education, as measured by years of schooling, only had a very weak correlation with mortality risk. The correlation between inadequate health literacy and death was strongest for cardiovascular disease.

read more here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

According to Wikipedia, Consumer Lab, an independent dietary
supplement and over the counter products evaluation organization,
published a report on 13 November 2007 on the popular resveratrol
supplements. The organization reported that there exists a wide range
in quality, dose, and price among the 13 resveratrol products
evaluated. The actual amount of resveratrol contained in the
different brands range from 2.2mg for Revatrol, which claimed to have
400mg of "Red Wine Grape Complex", to 500mg for Biotivia Transmax,
which is consistent with the amount claimed on the product's label.
Prices per 100mg of resveratrol ranged from less than $.30 for
products made by Biotivia.com, jarrow, and country life, to a high of
$45.27 for the Revatrol brand. None of the products tested were found
to have significant levels of heavy metals or other contaminants.