Health status and life style in elderly Japanese men with a long life expectancy

The Japanese population in Hawaii has one of the longest life expectancies of any large population subgroup in the U.S. and the world. Cross-sectional data on 1,379 elderly, noninstitutionalized, male Japanese American survivors of a population-based cohort study indicated the most common health problems were hypertension (43%), arthritis (33%), diabetes (13%), and gout (9%). For cancer and hypertension there is a trend toward higher prevalence in older age groups. For coronary heart disease, stroke, and angina the oldest age group (75-81 years) has a higher prevalence than that seen in younger age groups. Other relatively common diseases such as diabetes, gout, peptic ulcer, and arthritis do not have higher prevalence in older age groups. Drugs reported to be used frequently by study participants were for hypertension, gout, CHD, and diabetes. The prevalence rates of major limitations of mobility and of living alone appear to be relatively low in this population. Less than one percent of the current population rate their health status as poor. The prevalence of normal serum cholesterol and smoking are similar to those seen in U.S. White males, while the rates of hypertension appear lower. Prevalence rates for stroke and heart attack also appear to be somewhat lower in these long-lived individuals than those seen in U.S. Whites.