They lived happily ever after
About the secrets of longevity of pensioners
Daria Voronina, Rossiyskaya Gazeta
Yekaterinburg businessmen tried to create a self-supporting fund for people of retirement age. The experiment, which lasted 20 years, failed, but thanks to it, entrepreneurs were able to formulate their theory of longevity. "RG" figured out where long-livers come from and how to prolong their lives.
How the old people broke the theoryIn the late 80s, entrepreneur Anatoly Pikulin became interested in life expectancy and how to increase it.
He got acquainted with the survival tables – one of the ways to numerically express the dependence of mortality on age, showing how many people of a certain age reach each next year of life. After studying the data, he realized that it was possible to create a fund to support pensioners: in exchange for apartments, people would receive care and money for personal expenses, and after death, housing would pass to the agency. The funds from the sale of apartments were planned to be directed to the maintenance of other wards, and thus the fund would become self-supporting.
In the first set, they decided to take 100 rent recipients older than 56 years, health and the cost of the apartment did not matter. The owners of "treshek" in the center and barracks on the outskirts came to the organization. The main thing is that the elderly person and his relatives agree to the sale of the apartment after the death of the owner. According to estimates, 3-4 people were supposed to die every year.
– That's where the whole theory started to break down. During the year, not a single pensioner died, can you imagine? – Pikulin recalls. – There was even an incurable patient. Interestingly, he became our client already at the 4th stage of oncology, the last. He came to us at the age of 80, and died at the age of 95.
Further – more. After 3 years, the organization stopped recruiting. Old people who received a lifetime annuity "ate" apartments for 6-7 years, and then used the services for free. Now 18 out of 100 clients who signed the contract in 1991 are still alive. Their average age is 85, and they all feel great.
The Life FactorObserving the experiment, the company's employees wondered why the theory was not confirmed in practice.
After reviewing the scientific works, they brought out their own system of longevity. According to Pikulin, several factors influenced the life expectancy of pensioners. First, there is a certain incentive to live longer. Secondly, the absence of stress due to the fact that the housing fund took over the payment of communal services and treatment. The agency's clients even got hobbies, because they freed themselves from solving many small, but everyday household problems. Thirdly, they were provided with high-quality medical care. Fourth, the circle of communication has been artificially expanded.
– The life expectancy of people with higher education, according to statistics, is six years longer than those who do not have it, – says Pikulin. – The presence or absence of education affects the parts of the brain, and there are more than three hundred of them, which together determine what a person is capable of. This influence is formed up to 30 years. If a person learns, the number of neurons increases. After 50 years, their number begins to decrease by an average of three percent per year. Apparently, senile senility is associated with "shrinking", a decrease in the number of neurons and their connections. By old age, good mental abilities are preserved by people who have a wide social circle, and those who have studied more than others. Studies in a pack of monkeys, for example, have shown that the more "friends" a monkey has, the more connections there are in its brain and, accordingly, the longer life expectancy. Our clients have gained additional connections, which has helped them prolong their lives.
Stress and creativity"RG" decided to find out how true this theory is.
We met with the founder of the School of Gerontology and Geriatrics of the Urals, Doctor of Medical Sciences, neurologist Viktor Myakotnykh and introduced him to the concept of Anatoly Pikulin.
– There is nothing surprising in the fact that the theory of a real estate agency for pensioners has not been confirmed in practice. It could not be confirmed," the expert said. – According to analytical data, a 40-year-old person has a much lower survival rate than a 70-year-old. Why? But because the main thing in our life is to reach 60 years. At this age, the risk of a car accident (and this is the most common cause of death) decreases, since pensioners go out less often, criminal elements are not interested in them, that is, there is no risk of violent death. As they say, after 60, real life begins. Therefore, pensioners live longer, especially with the care provided to them by the agency. After all, high-quality medical care really prolongs life, here I agree with the merchants.
As for communication, it did not play a significant role here. People are divided into three types: leaders, for whom communication is extremely necessary, hermits, for whom it does not matter, and "average people". Singles feel great, having lived without communication for decades.
– I don't think that entrepreneurs have reduced the stress level. The elderly are not so depressed by worries about rent or treatment, as is commonly believed. They were prepared for the stresses of surviving the war. The fact is that nervous tension perfectly trains the cardiovascular system, thanks to which a person lives longer. But it is especially useful at a young age. Until the age of 40, a person needs to experience stress, and after that it is no longer desirable, the vessels lose elasticity and cannot regulate pressure normally," notes neurologist Viktor Myakotnykh.
But hobbies undoubtedly improve the lives of elderly people. Recent studies have shown that mental performance and endurance are reduced in the elderly, but creative thinking is significantly activated due to life experience. However, in this case, you should work in a team: an older friend puts forward creative ideas, and the young ones implement them.
Three types of activityInterestingly, senile senility can be prevented by constantly learning something new.
Viktor Myakotnykh confirms that insanity is associated with a breakdown of connections between neurons. But these connections tend to regenerate. If a pensioner starts studying again, connections are restored, and this prolongs life. As an example, the scientist cites the story of a pensioner from Volgograd, who graduated from university at the age of 94.
– The thesis that the agency's clients have a certain incentive is the most interesting, – says the gerontologist. – This is actually true. At the level of psychology, all people are owners, just like animals. Try to take away a toy from a child or, for example, a bone from a dog. Pensioners know that they want to take their apartments away from them, and in order not to give them away as long as possible, they live for a long time. It turns out that businessmen have increased the life expectancy of elderly people on at least two points, giving them medical care and the desire to preserve their property.
According to Viktor Myakotnykh, three types of activity prolong life: mental, physical and sexual. Physical exercises help to avoid diseases and improve tone. According to statistics, centenarians have been engaged in hard physical labor all their lives and continued to work even in 90 – 110 years.
– But the most important thing is love. I know a couple from Scotland. They met on her ninetieth birthday. She's 92 now, he's 95. He rides a mountain bike, they like to travel together. The lady told me that for the first time she understood what love is, it was with a new "boyfriend," Myakotnykh recalls. – Our centenarians also ride bicycles, do sports, but they do it in secluded places, being shy of their capabilities. No need. I recommend pensioners to visit a doctor once every three months as a preventive measure, I do not advise getting hooked on hormonal drugs allegedly to prolong youth. Keep three types of activity, and simply put, live a normal life. This is the secret of longevity.
Help "RG"The average life expectancy in the Sverdlovsk region is 69 years: 61.7 for men and 74.3 for women.
The health of the Urals is affected by factors such as chemical and radioactive pollution, noise levels in cities and villages, including at work, stress and even unstable Ural weather.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru24.10.2013