The high bar of aging
We have been preparing for successful aging all our lives
Natalia Matyukova, Business Petersburg
People who are over a hundred years old are today one of the fastest growing segments of the US population. Scientists have found that life expectancy depends on genetic factors by only 20-30%, the other 70-80% depend on the environment and habits, says Meera Lee Sethi in the material of Greater Good Magazine "100 is the New 65".
Elsa Bram Hoffmann loves bridges and is always ready to have fun at parties. Rose McGee likes to sing hymns to herself all day long. Will Clark is an excellent cook of spaghetti and meatballs. What connects all these people? They belong to the fastest growing segment of the US population – people who are over a hundred years old. Hoffman, McGee, Clark and almost 100 thousand other centenarians of the USA serve as an inspiring example for the rest. But they also pose a tantalizing question to researchers: Why do some people live so long? As a result of many years of medical research of this group of people, some key factors of longevity have been established. Now more and more scientists suggest that longevity is associated not only with genes and a healthy lifestyle, but also with cultivating a positive, cheerful attitude to the world around us. Therefore, you can learn from centenarians to live not only longer, but also better.
First of all, it is worth referring to the American Study of Centenarians, which is conducted in New England (New England Centenarian Study) for the last 15 years. More than 1.5 thousand people from all over the world became its participants. The director of the study, Thomas Perls, says that these people refute the generally accepted belief: "the older, the worse health." It is more correct to say: "the older you get, the healthier you were." In other words, people who demonstrate exceptional longevity tend to have a lifelong history of good health.
People dying at the age of 70-80 years have been suffering from degenerative diseases for many years. In contrast, as Perls found, almost 2/3 of centenarians have diseases such as heart disease, stroke and diabetes either absent at all, or their appearance is delayed. In addition, a significant part of centenarians, if they have any age-related diseases, they do not entail physical helplessness, allowing these people to remain socially, mentally and physically active. Perls seems to be arguing with a culture that romanticizes youth. In his opinion, centenarians embody "an absolutely optimistic view of aging," showing that prolonging life and enjoying it go hand in hand.
How do they do it? Studies show that the "right" genes definitely contribute to reaching the age of one hundred.
Centenarians are grouped in families. But a long life is not just a happy accident. Based on a Swedish study of identical and fraternal twins, scientists have found that life expectancy depends on genetic factors by only 20-30%, the other 70-80% is the environment and habits.
Much of what researchers have learned about how to reach old age sounds like public health propaganda: Don't smoke. Drink moderately. Eat healthy food. Exercise regularly. "What we can do to live longer is no secret," says Peter Martin, head of the gerontology program at the University of Iowa, the main sponsor of the Study of Centenarians in Georgia (1988-2006). But with increasing evidence, it becomes clear that a person's longevity is influenced by his personality. It's easy to find out what it takes to be healthy. It is more difficult to believe that we are able to control our life expectancy by simply loving life and constantly making choices in favor of health.
Despite the fact that each centenarian is unique – they differ significantly in terms of education, socio-economic status, religion and ethnicity – Martin reports that as a group, they demonstrate a special combination of character traits. For example, they are characterized by what psychologists call "competence" – the ability to achieve goals and "conscientiousness" or self-discipline. These qualities contribute to following the path of healthy habits, whereas most of us, making a decision on the eve of each New Year, abandon it by the end of January.
"It's amazing how much they understand the need to make an effort, and not just leave it to chance," says Lynn Peters Adler, head of the public movement "National Project for the Study of People who have reached the 100th anniversary", which promotes the dignity of aging. – "One woman I know takes a one-mile walk every morning regardless of temperature." This regime may seem boring and strict to someone, Adler notes, but this woman likes it. She loves to travel around the Grand Canyon, where she has already made a dozen hikes since her 75th birthday.
Martin's research also suggests that centenarians tend to gain new skills and experience, contrary to the prevailing stereotype that the elderly stop on their way. Will Clark is living proof of that. At the age of 105, he acquired his first computer, which he uses to correspond with friends, search for golfers and authors of interest to him.
Elsa Hoffmann is 102, she embodies two other traits of centenarians – a high level of extroversion and trust. Hoffmann's schedule includes lunches, theater trips, fundraising, shopping, bridge tournaments, and every year for the past few years, a cruise with other members of the club. Besides the fact that she gets boundless joy from all this social activity, it is important for her for another reason. As numerous studies show, a low level of social ties increases the risk of death.
The test results also show that centenarians have the ability to overcome difficult situations and not worry about death. Rosa McGee, for example, survived cancer, the death of her husband 25 years ago, and a whole foot of various difficult circumstances. However, her daughter Clara Jean describes her personality simply as "prosperity. She never fusses, doesn't argue, doesn't complain." Centenarians, more than young people, are characterized by "cognitive coping behavior" – the use of mental strategies to deal with stress and negative emotions. Some write poems about loneliness in old age or suffering in illness, others make up for declining physical activity by reading or find solace in religion. None of these strategies are innovative, but they are really effective as stress management. And as studies show, the rejection of anxiety or neurotic behavior not only helps to increase life expectancy, but also allows you to get more pleasure from these "extra" years.
There are pleasures that manifest themselves all the more in life, the older a person becomes. For example, what Martin calls "weaving the story of your life and realizing your destiny." McGee definitely enjoys talking about her role in organizing the delivery of a year's supply of food for the church in Mexico, and Hoffman is repairing a toy broken by her great–grandson and telling elementary school students about her life experience. There is still the pleasure of exploring something.
Clark recently enjoyed it when he bought a van and set off with his 102-year-old wife on a 5,000-mile journey through the Midwest. Given how "fantastically well" the participants in his research live their later years, Perls is upset by our culture's obsession with youth. He complains that "there is a whole industry that is trying to stop aging and it's stupid."
The high bar of agingAn increase in living standards means that most of us will live longer than previous generations.
But what remains in question is the quality of life that we will have in 80, 90 or 100 years. Martin argues that the answer lies in the attitude to the outside world that we cultivate in our younger years. "Imagine you're 95," he says. – "You don't see, you don't hear, you are lonely and dependent on other people, and it's all because of the anxiety and discontent with which you have lived your whole life."
On the other hand, says Martin, developing a positive attitude to life while we are young, no matter how difficult it may sometimes seem, can prepare us for a happy, healthy and independent existence in old age. In other words, successful aging is a matter that concerns not only the elderly. This is something we can work on all our lives. "Our parents wanted to age gracefully," Adler says. – "The bar is raised. Let's aim for an amazing age instead."
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru11.01.2010