Improving healthy life expectancy for seniors
Funded by the EU, the purpose of the 'VitaminD3-omega3-home exercise- healthy ageing and longevity trial' (DO-HEALTH) project is to test three interventions to see if they can keep people age 70 and older healthier for longer. If the interventions are successful, they can be implemented on a wide scale, reducing health care costs. The large, multi-centre clinical trial is currently recruiting 2 152 older adults. The randomised controlled trial will test the individual and multi-modal benefit of taking 2 000 IU vitamin D and 1 gramme of omega-3 fatty acids daily and engaging in a simple home exercise programme. DO-HEALTH hopes to provide evidence that this regimen will decrease the risk of incident-vertebral fractures, functional decline, blood pressure increase, cognitive decline and the rate of getting infections. Secondary outcomes include decreasing the risk of hip fracture, rate of falls and knee pain in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Other targeted benefits include improved oral health, mental health and overall quality of life. These conditions were chosen because they are the biggest problems among seniors. For example, 75 % of all fractures occur in those 75 years and older. Research has shown that supporting bone and muscle health can reduce this number. To date, the project has received regulatory approval for seven centres, which are actively recruiting participants. The team has developed a food frequency questionnaire, and initiated training and certification of the study's staff. The project has the potential to developing effective interventions to reduce the effects of ageing. It will also be looking at why or why not seniors adhere to the programme, and the costs and benefits based on health care utilisation and incidence of chronic disease. It is the largest ageing study of its kind ever implemented. Furthermore, DO-HEALTH collaborates with the US VITAL project, and the health states of seniors will be compared between the EU and the US.
Keywords
Life expectancy, vitamin D, omega-3, exercise, healthy ageing, longevity, interventions
