Have you ever wondered whether it's worth your while to encourage an older person to start exercising? In 2014, the top-notch journal JAMA published the results of a fantastic research project: a study in which 1635 sedentary older adults (aged 70-89) were assigned to get either a structured exercise program, or a program of "successful aging" health education. The researchers called it the Lifestyle Interventions and Independence for Elders (LIFE) study. (You can read the full study here.) During the LIFE study, the two groups were followed for a little over 2.5 years. And by the end of the study, guess which group of volunteers was more likely to still walk a quarter of a mile (without a walker)? That's right. When it came to avoiding "major mobility disability" which the researchers defined as becoming unable to walk 400 meters or more a structured exercise program was better than a program of healthy aging education. Specifically, the researchers found that 30% of the exercisers experienced a period of major disability, compared to 35.5% of the seniors enrolled in the healthy aging education program. This is a very encouraging finding! That said, it's also a bit sobering to realize that even with exercise, almost 1 in 3 older adults experienced a period of limited mobility, of which half lasted 6 months or more. In this post, I'll share some more details on this study, because the results provide a wonderful wealth of information that can be helpful to older adults, family caregivers, and even geriatricians such as myself. Want to know how often the exercisers experienced "adverse events"? (Hint: often!) Wondering just what the structured exercise program involved? (Hint: more than walking!) Let's dig into the details! At the end of this post, I'll share my list of key take-home points for older adults and family caregivers. Who were the study volunteers? Whenever you read about a research study, it's important to understand how the study volunteers compare to the older adults in *your* life. One of... According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: What does the journal author of JAMA probably think about healthy lifestyles in the elderly? Options: - JAMA's author is supportive of healthy lifestyles - JAMA's author thinks the elderly shouldn't get involved in exercise as it is dangerous - JAMA's author thinks elderly should be allowed to rest - not enough information
JAMA's author is supportive of healthy lifestyles

I have 2 friends from college who completely did a 180 after they got married. We were party animals in college. Every day revolved around alcohol on some form or fashion. It literally was like the movie Animal House Now these 2 friends (let's call them Bill and Ted) were a little dorky compared to the rest of the other guys. We all played sports in high school and college and they were more like bookworms. Borderline alcoholics but bookworms. They were really awkward around girls but funny as hell around guys. Long story short. Both of them got involved into serious relationships after college and ended up marrying these girls. One girl was this born again Christian who vowed to cleanse Bill from his evil ways. Bill was so far removed from his friends (the wolfpack!) that he didn't even invite us to his wedding. It's been maybe 14-15 yrs now and I have no clue what he's doing. I think one of my friends did attend the wedding but it was only because they desperately needed a groomsmen. Ted married this girl who seemed cool at first but after marriage, he stopped coming to any and all get togethers. He always had an excuse. He ended up moving a few hrs away and eventually just stopped responding to us. He did show up to a mutual friend's wedding maybe 3 yrs ago. He has a baby now but he's alot different than how he used to be. Other than Bill and Ted, all my other friends got married and have pretty normal marriages. Meaning that family is priority but if you got some free time, go enjoy yourself. So we still get together a couple times a year (some more than others) and have a good time. According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: After the end of this story, the narrator probably: Options: - never talked to Bill and Ted again - not enough information - spent time with Bill and Ted - talked to Bill and Ted every day
never talked to Bill and Ted again

Q: In this confessional age, TV, radio and print rely for much of their content on the sad stories of those 'victims' of life. The story goes something like this: There is the future 'victim' getting on with their quotidian activities and whoosh, they are whisked into a life of gambling, drugs, sex or junk food addiction. After years of struggle, they finally find redemption and become good people again. As in any good tale of redemption, there has to be a 'reason' for why our 'victim' fell off the rails. Take your pick: they were molested, their parents ran away from home, they were denied desserts except on Sundays. Just thinking about it brings a tear to my stony face. How can you not be moved by tales such as these. What is the precipitating cause of the misery in my life? Well, my mother was French and my father was English. And to make things worse, I was brought up Catholic! Yes folks, in today's shorthand of grievance, I'm a half-breed straddling Canada's great language divide and a religious bigot. My hometown was a mixture of French and English-speaking people and the results of their miscenagation. You could never tell by someone's last name who spoke your language (For instance, my good friend P. Arsenault spoke the Queen's English and my cousin Sean Doyle wouldn't have recognized an Oxford Dictionary if you shoved up his nose). As children, we were segregated by language; all the French-speaking kids went to one side of the school where they spoke French all the time. I was fortunate enough to be sent to the English side of the school and got to speak my native tongue. My parents decided my brother and sister wouldn't be quite so lucky. In an effort to bridge the great language divide, they both spent six years learning everything in French and mingling with the French people (My parents did this because it was the firm belief of all forward-thinking families that whatever road you took would be much smoother if you could speak both of Canada's official languages. As it turns out for my siblings and... According to the above context, choose the correct option to answer the following question. Question: who is telling the story? Options: - not enough information - the author's child - the author's wife - the author
A: the author