"Nann Bell" <hanbellGOGAT...@earthlink.net> wrote in message

> From the NYTimes and probably not a surprise to any of us.  I know
> staying
> socially active has me doing things I might shy away from, fearing
> pain,
> otherwise and that helps me keep the ability to do those things.

> Aging: Remaining Socially Active Aids Motor Skills
> By ERIC NAGOURNEY

> It is well known that older adults who remain socially engaged are
> more
> likely to keep their intellectual skills sharper. But new research
> suggests
> they may also be less likely to experience declines in motor
> skills like
> strength, speed and dexterity.

> Researchers who followed the health of about 900 people in
> retirement homes
> and elsewhere found that those who had the most social activity
> experienced
> the least decline in their motor skills. The report appears in The
> Archives
> of Internal Medicine.

> The researchers, led by Dr. Aron S. Buchman of the Rush University
> Medical
> Center, examined each volunteer over a period of about five years.

> They gave them a series of tests to assess their motor skills,
> looking at the
> strength in their arms and legs and at their ability to walk and
> perform
> other tasks. The volunteers were also asked to give information
> about their
> social activities.

> ---
> Nann
> remove the Gator cheer to email me
>        Change everything. Love & forgive.

"Jofirey" <jofi...@sbcglobal.net> wrote in message

>I always have a problem with studies like these.  I kind of figure that
>those who are able to stay socially active are also in better shape to
>start with, if only mentally.  Kind of a chicken and egg thing, where they
>start to give the chicken extra credit for being a chicken, and make the
>egg feel even worse because it hasn't hatched yet.

> I've always felt that way, but it was really brought home with my mother.
> She was physically active.  Climbed trees with her grandkids (which did
> arrive pretty early in her life).  She could walk the legs off anyone she
> knew, and she did.  She was also mentally active.

> Didn't help.  She walked for miles every day until her Alzheimer's made it
> unsafe to allow her out.  She was socially active as long as she could
> almost follow a conversation.  Like I say, didn't help.

> Jo
> "Nann Bell" <hanbellGOGAT...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:0001HW.C670E997001DB25DF0284550@news.east.earthlink.net...
>> From the NYTimes and probably not a surprise to any of us.  I know
>> staying
>> socially active has me doing things I might shy away from, fearing pain,
>> otherwise and that helps me keep the ability to do those things.

>> Aging: Remaining Socially Active Aids Motor Skills
>> By ERIC NAGOURNEY

>> It is well known that older adults who remain socially engaged are more
>> likely to keep their intellectual skills sharper. But new research
>> suggests
>> they may also be less likely to experience declines in motor skills like
>> strength, speed and dexterity.

>> Researchers who followed the health of about 900 people in retirement
>> homes
>> and elsewhere found that those who had the most social activity
>> experienced
>> the least decline in their motor skills. The report appears in The
>> Archives
>> of Internal Medicine.

>> The researchers, led by Dr. Aron S. Buchman of the Rush University
>> Medical
>> Center, examined each volunteer over a period of about five years.

>> They gave them a series of tests to assess their motor skills, looking at
>> the
>> strength in their arms and legs and at their ability to walk and perform
>> other tasks. The volunteers were also asked to give information about
>> their
>> social activities.

>> ---
>> Nann
>> remove the Gator cheer to email me
>>        Change everything. Love & forgive.