A good part of how long you live and your health while you're alive is related to your health habits and being socially engaged. A good part of life expectancy and health are under individual control.

In the 1980s, life expectancy was increasing and the best data that we had suggested that for every increased year of life expectancy, a greater fraction was disabled life expectancy. That led to a pessimistic perception that what we would see was a piling up of chronic illness and related disability, that medical science could extend life but it couldn't prevent disability or cure it.

The U.S. is falling behind other nations in gains in life expectancy at older ages although we are not sure why.

Education is a particularly powerful factor in both life expectancy and health, and we're not quite sure why.

This isn't cold technology for a cold, heartless society. It serves a real purpose and shows real promise.

As far as I know, this is the first study showing this.

There's going to have to be much more attention paid to individual savings and ways to encourage savings.

If the trend continues unchecked it could neutralize the improved functional status in 10 or 15 years. It's critical we find ways to reduce disability, both physical and cognitive.

I was surprised by the magnitude of the effect.

Odds are the findings are significantly related to the underlying religious beliefs of this population.