Anxiety Helps Elderly Women Live Longer

Anxiety Helps Elderly Women Live Longer

FRIDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- Higher anxiety levels may help
elderly women live longer, but may harm older men, U.S. research
shows.

A team at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University
followed 1,000 seniors in three Florida retirement communities for up
to 15 years.

They found that women with higher levels of anxiety at the start of
the study lived longer than others. Year-to-year changes in anxiety
levels didn't appear to affect women's survival, either.

In contrast to women, men with higher anxiety levels at the start of
the study were more likely to die earlier, the researchers said.

"Our research indicates that anxiety may have a protective effect on
women, possibly causing them to seek medical attention more frequently
than men," Dr. Jianping Zhang, of the department of psychiatry and
psychology at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a prepared statement. "In
contrast, increasing anxiety over time is more detrimental to men.
Additional research is needed to better understand the mechanisms and
effects of anxiety in men and women."

The study is noteworthy due to the large amount of data collected over
a long period of time, noted co-researcher Dr. Leo Pozuelo, who is
also in the department of psychiatry and psychology at the Cleveland
Clinic.

"Baseline higher anxiety could have led the female study participants
to be more active and health-conscious," Pozuelo said in a prepared
statement. "We are not certain of the absolute connection between
anxiety and mortality, but this data set shows there may be a gender
difference."

The study was to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the
American Psychosomatic Society.

Marcy -

I really enjoy these posts that you make from time to time.
Please keep it up!

When you see me ranting about this one down below, it's because
the researchers take correlational data and try to nudge the
interpretation into cause and effect. That's one of my hot
buttons - bad enough when the media folk do that (reporters are
frequently guilty), but researchers should know better!

marcy wrote:
> Anxiety Helps Elderly Women Live Longer
>
> FRIDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- Higher anxiety levels may help
> elderly women live longer, but may harm older men, U.S. research
> shows.
>
> A team at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University
> followed 1,000 seniors in three Florida retirement communities for up
> to 15 years.
>
> They found that women with higher levels of anxiety at the start of
> the study lived longer than others. Year-to-year changes in anxiety
> levels didn't appear to affect women's survival, either.
>
> In contrast to women, men with higher anxiety levels at the start of
> the study were more likely to die earlier, the researchers said.
>
> "Our research indicates that anxiety may have a protective effect on
> women, possibly causing them to seek medical attention more frequently
> than men," Dr. Jianping Zhang, of the department of psychiatry and
> psychology at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a prepared statement. "In
> contrast, increasing anxiety over time is more detrimental to men.
> Additional research is needed to better understand the mechanisms and
> effects of anxiety in men and women."
>
> The study is noteworthy due to the large amount of data collected over
> a long period of time, noted co-researcher Dr. Leo Pozuelo, who is
> also in the department of psychiatry and psychology at the Cleveland
> Clinic.
>
> "Baseline higher anxiety could have led the female study participants
> to be more active and health-conscious," Pozuelo said in a prepared
> statement. "We are not certain of the absolute connection between
> anxiety and mortality, but this data set shows there may be a gender
> difference."
>
> The study was to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the
> American Psychosomatic Society.
>
Love these correlational studies! Some of the media reports seem
to imply that as women, we should all become more anxious as we
become elderly in order to improve our longevity.

It doesn't say whether the anxious women actually did become more
health conscious, or active. It doesn't say whether or not
anxious women actually did seek medical attention more
frequently. (In some cases, that might _worsen_ their health, or
_increase_ their anxiety...) It doesn't say whether or not
anxious people actually had anxiety disorders. It doesn't
measure any markers of anxiety, such as elevated glucocorticoids.
It's a narrow slice, because it doesn't look at people who died
at younger ages. ...

I'd really like to look this one up to see what the authors
actually wrote, but it appears that it was a paper presentation,
and only an abstract is available in print.

Me, I'm gonna keep working on decreasing my anxiety levels. Even
if there is an iron-clad cause-effect relationship there, I enjoy
life a lot more when I'm not feeling anxious!

FurPaw

--
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched,
every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense
a theft from those who hunger and are not fed,
those who are cold and are not clothed."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

To reply, unleash the dogs.

In article <K6KdnZ7eNokVsUDanZ2dnUVZ_s6mnZ2d@comcast.com>,
FurPaw <furrealpawdog@gmaildog.com> wrote:

> Marcy -
>
> I really enjoy these posts that you make from time to time.
> Please keep it up!
>
> When you see me ranting about this one down below, it's because
> the researchers take correlational data and try to nudge the
> interpretation into cause and effect. That's one of my hot
> buttons - bad enough when the media folk do that (reporters are
> frequently guilty), but researchers should know better!
>
> marcy wrote:
> > Anxiety Helps Elderly Women Live Longer
> >
> > FRIDAY, March 14 (HealthDay News) -- Higher anxiety levels may help
> > elderly women live longer, but may harm older men, U.S. research
> > shows.
> >
> > A team at the Cleveland Clinic and Case Western Reserve University
> > followed 1,000 seniors in three Florida retirement communities for up
> > to 15 years.
> >
> > They found that women with higher levels of anxiety at the start of
> > the study lived longer than others. Year-to-year changes in anxiety
> > levels didn't appear to affect women's survival, either.
> >
> > In contrast to women, men with higher anxiety levels at the start of
> > the study were more likely to die earlier, the researchers said.
> >
> > "Our research indicates that anxiety may have a protective effect on
> > women, possibly causing them to seek medical attention more frequently
> > than men," Dr. Jianping Zhang, of the department of psychiatry and
> > psychology at the Cleveland Clinic, said in a prepared statement. "In
> > contrast, increasing anxiety over time is more detrimental to men.
> > Additional research is needed to better understand the mechanisms and
> > effects of anxiety in men and women."
> >
> > The study is noteworthy due to the large amount of data collected over
> > a long period of time, noted co-researcher Dr. Leo Pozuelo, who is
> > also in the department of psychiatry and psychology at the Cleveland
> > Clinic.
> >
> > "Baseline higher anxiety could have led the female study participants
> > to be more active and health-conscious," Pozuelo said in a prepared
> > statement. "We are not certain of the absolute connection between
> > anxiety and mortality, but this data set shows there may be a gender
> > difference."
> >
> > The study was to be presented Thursday at the annual meeting of the
> > American Psychosomatic Society.
> >
> Love these correlational studies! Some of the media reports seem
> to imply that as women, we should all become more anxious as we
> become elderly in order to improve our longevity.
>
> It doesn't say whether the anxious women actually did become more
> health conscious, or active. It doesn't say whether or not
> anxious women actually did seek medical attention more
> frequently. (In some cases, that might _worsen_ their health, or
> _increase_ their anxiety...) It doesn't say whether or not
> anxious people actually had anxiety disorders. It doesn't
> measure any markers of anxiety, such as elevated glucocorticoids.
> It's a narrow slice, because it doesn't look at people who died
> at younger ages. ...
>
> I'd really like to look this one up to see what the authors
> actually wrote, but it appears that it was a paper presentation,
> and only an abstract is available in print.

You mean my mother *isn't* going to live forever? ;-)

> Me, I'm gonna keep working on decreasing my anxiety levels. Even
> if there is an iron-clad cause-effect relationship there, I enjoy
> life a lot more when I'm not feeling anxious!

Yeah, me too. Mother may worry herself as much as she likes, I guess,
since it may be good for her in the long run if those guys *are* right,
but I *feel* better NOW if I decrease my anxiety.

Priscilla

On Mar 16, 8:18*am, FurPaw <furrealpaw...@gmaildog.com> wrote:

> Marcy -
>
> I really enjoy these posts that you make from time to time.
> Please keep it up!
>
> When you see me ranting about this one down below, it's because
> the researchers take correlational data and try to nudge the
> interpretation into cause and effect. *That's one of my hot
> buttons - bad enough when the media folk do that (reporters are
> frequently guilty), but researchers should know better!

[snipped]

Every morning I check various sources of news online and when I find a
story that is appropriate for a group, I like to share it.

Oh I am never offended when someone responds to a post I sent in. I
didn't write the original story, but thought it was worth sharing with
the readers here.

marcy

On Mar 17, 1:10*pm, marcy <ngtybtn...@aol.com> wrote:
> On Mar 16, 8:18*am, FurPaw <furrealpaw...@gmaildog.com> wrote:
>
> > Marcy -
>
> > I really enjoy these posts that you make from time to time.
> > Please keep it up!
>
> > When you see me ranting about this one down below, it's because
> > the researchers take correlational data and try to nudge the
> > interpretation into cause and effect. *That's one of my hot
> > buttons - bad enough when the media folk do that (reporters are
> > frequently guilty), but researchers should know better!
>
> [snipped]
>
> Every morning I check various sources of news online and when I find a
> story that is appropriate for a group, I like to share it.
>
> Oh I am never offended when someone responds to a post I sent in. *I
> didn't write the original story, but thought it was worth sharing with
> the readers here.
>
> marcy

Maybe these anxious old gals survive by draining their negative
emotions into the people around them. You can see this happening with
my friend's 90 year old mom, the original nervous nelly. She was
dying a year ago when my gf moved in and saved the day. Now my friend
looks five years older, and her mom has a new lease on life. An extra
wrinkle for too many menopausal women!

Les