“There are… no truly healthy centenarians; you can’t put 100 points on the board without getting worn out and banged up along the way. But there are independent centenarians and happy centenarians and centenarians who have had a rollicking good ride. The same is true for people who will never reach the 100-year mark but make the very most of the time they do get. The end of life is a nonnegotiable thing. The quality and exact length of that life, however, is something we very much have the power to shape.” (Source: The Surprising Secrets to Living Longer — And Better)
Time magazine published an article on February 15, 2018 written by Jeffrey Kluger and Alexandra Sifferlin entitled “The Surprising Secrets to Living Longer — And Better.” The article takes into account numerous studies done concerning possible factors that can lead to longevity of human life.
The studies focused on different facets of a person’s life from personality traits, diet & exercise, to having friends, and it noted what effect those factors had on length and quality of life. Here are some of the findings discussed:
There is a gene variant linked to dementia, and a study determined that those with it who had positive attitudes about aging were 50% less likely to develop dementia than those who faced aging with more pessimism or fear.
Both family and friends are associated with happiness and better health, but as people aged the health link remained only for people with strong friendships.
Cities increasingly rank high on both doctors’ and seniors’ lists of the best places to age gracefully as they often have better access to potential friends, health facilities, and potential activities the elder can partake in than rural areas (which can be isolating).
There is no correlation pointing to cheerful/outgoing people living longer than those who are more serious/introverted.
Healthy eating may not need to be completely strict and is an issue of moderation.
While some exercise is beneficial it’s not as strenuous as one would fear; and it’s better to remain a healthy weight rather than be diet obsessive and repeatedly fluctuate the body’s weight.
Sex has also been linked to healthy longevity — although aged sex partners should not be strenuous and focus more on intimacy and pleasure rather than culminating in orgasm.
Light to moderate alcohol use is associated with a lower risk of death compared to people who don’t drink at all. (Though that’s not a reason to start if you choose not to partake.)
“Humans are not alone in facing the ultimate reckoning, but we’re the only species–as far as we know–who spends its whole life knowing death is coming.”
“Excess fat around the heart, in both men and women, is an evolving risk factor for heart disease. But how can clinicians see it at a regular physical? They can’t without a special heart scan,” said senior author Samar El Khoudary, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health.
In August 2017, a study was published in the Menopause journal that discovered a heart disease risk factor in women that did not require special testing, but was a simple characteristic that a patient could discuss with their doctor: midlife weight gain. Although the location of that weight gain differed between races; it is midlife weight gain in the midsection that can be a fatty heart risk for black women, while for white women the risk is higher when they add weight all over their bodies.
“This study, coupled with our previous study in men, gives doctors another tool to evaluate their patients and get a better sense of their heart disease risk. It also may lead to suggestions for lifestyle modifications to help patients lessen that risk.”
Have you heard of “encore careers?” Shifting from the trends of the past where once a person retired they were finished working, it is now becoming more and more popular (due to both necessity and desire) for retirees to begin second occupations.
While most retirees plan to spend their post-work years traveling, volunteering, spending time with grandchildren, or improving their golf game, many are energized by discussing their “next act” in terms of work – their encore career…nearly 60 percent of workers who are age 60 or older anticipate looking for a new job after retiring. Whether it’s out of a necessity to supplement retirement income or a desire to simply to stay active, intellectually engaged, or inspired, working in retirement is quickly becoming the norm. (Source: Forbes)
Four reasons why the “encore career” has become more and more mainstream:
Financial Advantages: postponing drawdown of savings and social security while continuing to increase net worth is enticing to many, especially when life expectancy continues to rise.
Bridging the Gap: if contemplating the inevitable work-to-retirement transition spikes your anxiety, a more gradual change may prove more fulfilling for you.
Health Benefits: more and more evidence suggest cognitive, psychological, and social benefits to working…
Intrinsic Rewards: pivoting from the stable, lucrative, career path that sustained you and your family to a more philanthropic, creatively stimulating, or simply a riskier occupation may revitalize you…
Are you a retiree already involved in an encore career? Or someone who is considering it? Please share your insight and thoughts!
Does Higher Late-Life Cholesterol Lower the Risk of Cognitive Decline? (Source: Hartford Courant)
High cholesterol versus low cholesterol. Good cholesterol versus bad cholesterol. Mid-life high cholesterol versus late-life high cholesterol… Sometimes understanding the cholesterol big picture is “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”!
Now you can add another curious twist: there may be an important correlation between higher late-life cholesterol levels and lower risks of of dementia and general cognitive decline.
A new study published in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia links high cholesterol with a lower risk of cognitive decline for people over 85 years old. But that might not necessarily mean that having high cholesterol prevents dementia…
They were surprised to find that for people aged 85 to 94 years old, having higher late-life than midlife cholesterol was correlated with a 32 percent lower risk of cognitive decline. In other words, higher cholesterol among the very old was associated with a reduced chance for dementia. (Source: Hartford Courant)
It may be a little premature (and several degrees short of definitive) but it’s heartening to consider the possibility that higher late-life cholesterol could lower the risk of cognitive decline. Watch this space…
“Excess fat around the heart, in both men and women, is an evolving risk factor for heart disease. But how can clinicians see it at a regular physical? They can’t without a special heart scan,” said senior author Samar El Khoudary, Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor of epidemiology at Pitt Public Health.