To those terrified of old age, we have some good news. In a study conducted by the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, older people aged between 75-80 displayed improved physical and cognitive performance compared to their counterparts tested in the 1990s. Participants displayed significant improvements in muscle strength, reaction speed, and walking speed, along with verbal fluency, reasoning, and working memory. The authors of the study attribute these improvements to better accessibility to education, improved nutrition and hygiene, better healthcare, and other important changes in the past few decades. Importantly, these findings suggest that in addition to longer lifespans, healthspans - measured in terms of longer non-disabled years - are increasing as well.
