Fit elderly 'can boost longevity'

Scientists found 70-year-olds who take regular exercise, eat well, and do not smoke greatly increase their chance of living until 90.

The researchers estimate that longevity is only at most 30% down to our genes - the rest is down to lifestyle factors.

The study, by Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital, appears in Archives of Internal Medicine. The researchers tracked 2,357 male doctors whose average age was 72 when they joined the study in the early 1980s.

Those who exercised two to four times per week, did not smoke, maintained normal body weight and blood pressure, and avoided diabetes had a 54% chance of living to 90. In contrast, those who failed on each count had only a 4% chance of living to see their tenth decade.