Thursday, November 20, 2008

How many years of healthy living before you die?

Golden years

Nov 18th 2008
From Economist.com

How many years of healthy living before you die?


PEOPLE are mostly living longer, but are those extra years healthy ones? Whereas the life expectancy for men aged 50 in European countries varies by some nine years, the years of healthy life differ enormously. In 2005, an Estonian man of 50 could look foward to just over nine years more of good health (defined as having no limits on activity). In contrast a typical Danish man could expect 23.6 years, according to a new study published in the Lancet, a British medical journal. The gap between East and West in both life expectancy and years spent in good health is considerable.

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