By Staff Reports
(Hawaii)– From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A study indicates that more socially involved older people have better-working lungs. Previous research found married seniors have better health than singles. This study finds seniors can improve lung health without being married – with more social roles, such as friends, family, and organizations like church groups.
At Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, researcher Crista Crittenden saw this in data on more than 1,100 healthy adults ages 70 to 79.
Crittenden also says social involvements that seniors like seem better for lung health:
“Make sure that you are doing social activities that make you happy. And hopefully that can improve your lung health and your overall health in the future.”
The study in the journal Health Psychology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Learn more at healthfinder.gov.
HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.