Older People Grow Healthier, Study Finds : Aging: Good medical care, eating habits and exercise seem to be paying off, researcher says. What’s more, the more educated people are, the healthier they seem to be as they age.

RALEIGH — Older people had fewer illnesses over the last decade, a trend that could be the result of more education, good eating and preventive medicine, Duke University researchers say.

The report was based on health and lifestyle data taken from more than 30,000 people aged 65 and older.

Good health care and habits “seem to be bearing fruit,” said Kenneth Manton, a statistician at Duke’s Center for Demographic Studies, and a study co-author.

The study confirms popular impressions in the media that these factors work, Manton said. “A perception is one thing, but measuring it is another.”

Manton, Eric Stallard and Larry Corder reviewed the incidence of 16 major medical conditions using surveys taken in 1982, 1984 and 1989 by the Duke Center and the National Institute on Aging.

The review showed that the rate of illness fell by 11% between 1982 and 1989--from 2.5 medical conditions per person to 2.3.

The data, adjusted for difference in age and sex, showed that diseases like arteriosclerosis, arthritis, circulatory disease, emphysema and hypertension all were declining.

The decline in morbidity rates can be attributed to changes in lifestyle and advances in modern society, according to the study, published in the July issue of the Journal of Gerontology.

The study challenges the theory that as Americans live longer, they will have more illnesses, thus diminishing their quality of life. A Duke demographer recently reported that average life spans have been increasing each decade by roughly two years.

Helene Clark, a professor and gerontology expert at Catholic University in Washington, calls the study “an exciting development” showing that Americans are living healthier lives.

The study is “an encouragement for a preventive kind of lifestyle, and I think a justification for it,” said Clark, who has written textbook chapters on aging.

According to Manton, preventive measures may be leading to the decline in some illnesses. For example, more people quitting smoking may contribute to a decline in emphysema.

Education also appears to be a quality-of-life factor for the elderly. Those who are better educated appear to have a reduced risk of losing mental faculties and a greater chance of eating right and keeping fit, Manton said.

About 65% of those between 85 and 89 years old in 1980 had a grade-school education or less. That number is expected to drop to 15% by 2015, he said.

Medical advances likely have lowered some illness rates. As doctors fine-tune care for one medical problem, they could prevent other problems from developing.

Greater access to doctors through Medicare, which covers nearly all people over 65, also could be a contributing factor.

According to the study, the rates of five conditions increased: pneumonia, bronchitis, hip fractures, Parkinson’s disease and miscellaneous heart problems.

Manton said some pneumonia and bronchitis rose because poor air quality “is finally catching up with susceptible people.” Smoking also may be to blame, he said.

The incidence of heart attacks, cancer, diabetes and asthma showed no significant change. Heart attacks and cancer are among the main causes of death for Americans.

“The fact is that we haven’t wiped out all of these conditions,” Clark said.

But Manton said the data shows the aging process can be altered more easily than once thought.

“Twenty or 25 years ago, we thought of an elderly person as someone who was frail and mentally slow,” Manton said. “That’s changing.”