Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

> Next, the researchers examined how fitness was associated with the risk of dying in random accidents such as car accidents

> The researchers found that men with the highest fitness levels had a 53 per cent lower risk of dying in random accidents. Yet, it is unlikely that the men’s fitness would have such a big effect on their risk of dying in random accidents.

Wait, what?

https://aaafoundation.org/rates-motor-vehicle-crashes-injuri...

The risk of being in a motor vehicle crash increases as one gets older than ~70 years. The risk of dying increases even more dramatically.

Now maybe this effect is independent of physical fitness, but that’s quite an assumption. I would guess the contrary: that poor fitness quite dramatically increases one’s risk of a car crash, both due to reduced motor control and increased risk of various neurological issues.

Vascular dementia, for example, seems very likely to be correlated and often caused by poor fitness. Various sources seem to think that exercise can quite dramatically reduce Alzheimer’s risk. Alzheimer’s disease is related to PCA, and I suspect that PCA is very much under-diagnosed and that it causes a lot of crashes.




I'm a (fairly) fit runner. I run for about 8 hours each week, sometimes longer. I'm in a car so much less than the average person. Guess why.


Can’t post a car ride on Strava.


You live closer to work?


It's 10km.


That's a very good point. However the median follow-up in the study was 56 with IQR 50 to 62 years, I think that reduces this issue a lot.


What do you mean by PCA? Didn't show anything relevant when I searched it.


Posterior cortical atrophy:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posterior_cortical_atrophy

PCA can cause simultanagnosia and other problems with visual perception.

Have you ever seen an elderly person drive directly at you in a parking lot, at low speed, and appear to be completely unaware of your presence? This could be why.




Consider applying for YC's Fall 2025 batch! Applications are open till Aug 4

Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: