Does growing older mean living with chronic disease and accompanying disability? What’s the reality of aging as opposed to social stereotype?
The average 75-year-old American suffers from three chronic conditions and takes five prescription medications. (http://www.silverbook.org/fact/21) Yet, chronic diseases are mostly due to environmental and behavioral factors, rather than genetics or age, and are preventable. (http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/AAG/chronic.htm & http://www.californiahealthline.org/capitol-desk/2012/3/state-poll-numbers-support-prevention.aspx)
At the 5th Annual On Lok Conference on Sustainable Long-Term Care Cultivating Healthy Aging, keynote speaker Dan Buettner said that 20% of how long we live is dictated by genes, and the remaining 80% by lifestyle and environment.
Buettner’s research findings are published in his book, Blue Zones, where he identifies the Power of 9 habits shared by populations who live long, healthy lives with low rates of chronic disease. It’s noteworthy that the common denominator is living close to nature:
1. move naturally (versus exercise)
2. “right” outlook: having purpose in life, daily rituals to de-stress
3. eat wisely: plant-based, eat until 80% full (Confucius recommended 70%), moderate consumption of wine with food/friends (though Adventists abstain from alcohol)
4. connect: loved ones first (intergenerational families), belong to faith-based community, right tribe to reinforce healthy behaviors
The conference ended with panelists discussing uses of technology to provide social networks, videogames and cell phone texting for medication reminders. As a nature lover and reluctant blogger, I’m skeptical about making technology into a “healthy” habit.
I always thought a gardening habit—which provides natural movement, a reason to get up in the morning, daily meditation with nature to de-stress, fresh produce to eat, a form of recreation with family/friends, etc.—kept my grandfather alive through 9 decades. Gardening happens in the natural, not virtual, world.
Blue Zones: http://www.bluezones.com/live-longer/power-9/
http://www.nextavenue.org/article/2014-01/secrets-worlds-oldest-people
ReplyDelete100 Years of Healthy Habits: Secrets of Chinese Centenarians
ReplyDeleteBy Jennifer J. Brown, PhD
…Cardiologist John Day, MD, of Intermountain Healthcare in Murray, Utah, visited Bapan and the Chinese centenarians and learned fascinating lessons about healthy living and healthy hearts, ones he shares with his own patients.
...Research on about 3,000 pairs of twins who had identical DNA — the same genes — but as adults had different home environments and life choices, showed that only 25 percent of their longevity was due to genes. The other 75 percent was affected by lifestyle. Things within your control can make all the difference in lifespan.
I'll Have Vegetables With That
“In Longevity Village, the fascinating thing is that they eat vegetables as part of all three meals, even breakfast,” Day noticed. The food groups consistently associated with a healthy heart and long life are fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes, and fish, Day says. He found that in Bapan, vegetables were always a main course. They ate a lot of fruits, nuts, and legumes as well…
Legumes — a food group that include beans, peas, and lentils — are a central part of the Bapan diet. “The longest-lived cultures use beans as a regular part of their diet,” Day observes…
Exercise? No. Movement? Yes!
The rural area of Bapan has no exercise culture, Day says. In fact, in Longevity Village, the elders laughed at him when he asked if they exercised, because “they were outside, moving their bodies all day.” On his visits to the area, most recently in 2013, he found people of all ages engaged in physical activities like farming. Everything was done by hand because this remote area had no access to mechanical equipment like power tools until very recently and, Day adds, no televisions or computers…
“It’s often said in the cardiology community that you are only as old as your arteries. If your arteries age, it wears out your brain, heart, and even kidneys,” Day explains. This is because by being physically active, you can slow the buildup of plaque in your arteries – and keep your heart and body healthy a lot longer.
Connect More, Stress Less, Live Longer
If you look at countries where people live longest, most are places where elders are revered. “In Longevity Village, 74 percent of the centenarians in the county lived in four- to five-generation homes, all under the same roof,” says Day. “They always ask the oldest person for advice; always serve them first at every meal.” Grandparents are very involved with the family and especially with child rearing. This social support has tremendous health benefits…
“Having a sense of purpose can significantly increase your longevity.”
...Stress is becoming increasingly challenging in our society, says Day. In his experience, “Eighty percent of emergency room visits are stress triggered.” Life is stressful, but it’s how you deal with it that matters. Too often we live isolated lives, and even our diet causes a buildup of stress we need to diffuse, he explains.
Connection matters. In Longevity Village he found a connection to nature, to the earth, to family and friends, community, and food. Day says, “Even their food was connected and in a natural state. The fish they caught in the stream they ate later that same day; the vegetables they harvested in their garden they ate that day.”
Simple Secrets to a Long Life
The people living in Longevity Village are a five-hour bus ride away from the rest of civilization, so air pollution is not a problem there, at least not yet. But even here, you can take steps to ensure your air is as clean as possible. If you smoke, stop. And invest in an air filter if you need to, says Day.
“I cannot overstate the importance of breathing clean air,” he adds. This is on the top of his list, along with five more directives:
• Be physically active
• Eat a healthy diet
• Get restorative sleep
• Manage your stress
• Be socially connected
Last Updated: 10/21/2014
http://www.everydayhealth.com/news/one-hundred-years-healthy-habits-secrets-chinese-centenarians/
95 Percent of People Have Some Illness or Injury
ReplyDeleteBY DOUGLAS MAIN 6/10/15 AT 6:35 AM
A large study published in The Lancet on June 8 compiling health data from all over the world found that 95 percent of all people on Earth, young and old, reported having some illness or injury during 2013, the latest year for which data is available.
Moreover, nearly one-third of adults in developed countries reported having five or more significant health problems in 2013. The analogous figure in sub-Saharan is much worse, at 62 percent.
The study found that amount of time people spend feeling very ill or in poor health, quantified in a metric known as “years lived with disability” (YLD), has gone up 42 percent since 1990.
This is mainly because people are getting older, says Rifat Atun, a global health researcher at Harvard University who wasn’t involved in the study, but who wrote a commentary accompanying it in The Lancet. One-quarter of those over 80 reported 10 or more significant health complaints in 2013, and nearly two-thirds had between five and nine.
The study points out “how much sickness and poor health” there is out there—“It’s a real wake-up call,” Atun says.
The leading causes of “years lost to disability” paint a “painful picture,” Atun says. Low back pain brings about the most agony (and YLD) with neck pain fourth, migraine sixth, and other musculoskeletal disorders coming in tenth. Mental disorders come next: depression causes the second most disability, followed by anxiety in ninth place and schizophrenia in eleventh. The only communicable, or contagious illness in the top 25 causes of disability is diarrheal disease, placing last.
As for why low back pain and the like as such problems, Atun says it has to do largely with lifestyle and lack of activity. "Our bodies are not designed to sit in front of a laptop, which both of us are probably doing now," he says.
Study co-author Theo Vos, a professor of global health at the University of Washington, says that though the numbers are indeed staggering, they don’t mean that everybody is constantly sick. The scientists calculated YLD by “quantifying the amount of health lost due to all these conditions, by giving them a severity weight. Minor things get a very low weight and severe illnesses get a high weight. Thus, 1 million people with mild hearing loss will count for less than 10,000 YLDs, while 1 million people with schizophrenia or quadriplegia will count for over 500,000 YLDs.”
For example, if somebody reported having a toothache for two days, that would count as a health concern or sequelae, defined as a symptom or effect of illness or injury. So that person would be counted as having one health concern during the year, even though it only lasted for two days. But health problems like depression or schizophrenia obviously last longer and cause more disability, thus the weighting factor.
Atun argues that things could nevertheless be better. We as a society have put “undue emphasis on rewarding the treatment of specific diseases, rather than rewarding the maintenance of good health.”
…He advocates for more holistic medicine, well-trained primary care and family physicians and nurses.
http://www.newsweek.com/95-percent-people-have-some-illness-or-injury-341473
What People Who Live to 100 Eat Every Day
ReplyDeleteJune 17, 2015
By Sarah-Jane Bedwell
…people who live in these five communities throughout the world: Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; the Greek island of Ikaria, the Nicoya peninsula of Costa Rica, and Loma Linda, Calif. On average, they live to the ripe age of 100 years old at rates 10 times higher than the average American…
Over a decade ago, writer Dan Buettner teamed up with National Geographic and a team of scientists to explore these areas, now called the “Blue Zones.” His latest book, The Blue Zones Solution, takes a closer look at their healthy lifestyle habits—particularly how they’re eating. Here’s a look at each region’s key secret to long life that you can practice daily.
Okinawa: Eat something from the land and something from the sea, everyday.
Okinawa, Japan, is a Blue Zone that’s known for its year-round sunny weather and beaches, and, of course, having high rates of centurions in the world. So what’s their secret—other than plenty of time chilling out on the sand? They follow the practice of eating something from the land and something from the sea each day. This includes foods such as seaweed, bitter melons, tofu, garlic, brown rice, green tea, and shiitake mushrooms.
Sardinia: Eat a diet rich in calcium and protein.
One of the most unique factors that plays into the life span of Sardinians is the population’s long history of shepherding goats and sheep. Sure, that type of activity guarantees good exercise, but it also means they have access to a diet rich in calcium and protein, thanks to the milk and cheese from their herds. And get ready—Sardinians also believe they have another secret: “making love every Sunday.” There also happens to be a one to one ratio of female to male centurions in Sardinia, versus the ratio of five female centurions to every one male centurion in other parts of the world.
Ikaria: Follow a Mediterranean diet.
On the small island of Ikaria, Greece, people enjoy a plant-based Mediterranean-style diet, which has long been touted for its heart-healthy qualities. And now, you can add longevity to its list of the diet’s benefits. In fact, Buettner has called Ikaria “the island where people forget to die.” The foods that these islanders consume the most include potatoes, garbanzo beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, goat’s milk, greens, fruit, and honey, plus a small amount of fish and very little meat.
Nicoya: Eat squash, beans and corn on the regular.
Buettner cites the “three sisters” (squash, beans, and corn) of Meso-American agriculture as the foundation of the healthy diet followed by the folks who live on the Nicoyan peninsula of Costa Rica. And as it happens, these three low-calorie foods are a solid source of heart-healthy fiber, vitamins, and minerals. The beans also provide a great source of protein to this mostly plant-based diet.
Loma Linda: Eat like a vegan—but add fish.
Interestingly, Loma Linda is a community of Seventh Day Adventists, which means in addition to avoiding smoking, drinking and media, the religious population follows what they call a “Biblical diet.” Those who follow this diet live, on average, 10 years longer than those who don’t. The diet relies on grains (such as oatmeal and whole wheat bread), nuts, fruits such as avocados, dates, and figs and vegetables. They skip anything with added sugar and drink only water or soy milk. While many folks in Loma Linda follow a vegan diet, some of them eat small amounts of meat and fish, like salmon. The ones who do include fish live longer than the vegans.
In The Blue Zones, Buettner also gives suggestions for other lifestyle factors of these zones that we can imitate in order to enjoy a longer, healthier life. Everything from making exercise more a part of our daily routine to mindful eating to dimming the lights an hour before bed for better sleep can contribute to longevity, so get to it—we’ve got decades to go!
https://www.yahoo.com/food/what-people-who-live-to-100-eat-every-day-121109993645.html
Retiring After 65 May Help People Live Longer
ReplyDeleteMore longevity benefits for retirees between 66 and 72
By ANN LUKITS
May 2, 2016 11:13 a.m. ET
Retiring after age 65 may help people live longer, says a study published online in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. The risk of dying from any cause over the study period was 11% lower among people who delayed retirement for one year—until age 66—and fell further among people who retired between the ages of 66 and 72, the study found.
Even workers who retired for health reasons had a lower risk of dying, compared with those leaving work at 65.
The benefits of remaining in the workforce occurred irrespective of gender, lifestyle, education, income and occupation, the analysis showed.
Postponing retirement may delay the natural age-related decline in physical, cognitive and mental functioning, reducing the risk of chronic illness, the study suggests. Mandatory retirement in the U.S. was abolished in 1986 except in certain professions, such as airline pilots and judges.
Researchers at Oregon State University analyzed data from 2,956 people who were employed at the start of a larger study in 1992 and fully retired at its conclusion in 2010. Retirement age ranged from 55 to 77 years old. Of the subjects, 33% retired at age 66 or older, 12% at age 65 and 55% before 65. Just over a third cited health reasons for retiring.
Over approximately 18 years of follow-up, 12.1% of healthy and 25.6% of unhealthy retirees died. Compared with retiring at age 65, workers who retired in good health at age 67 had a 21% lower risk of dying. By age 70, the risk was 44% lower, and at age 72 it was 56% lower.
For workers with health issues, the risk of dying was 9% lower if they retired at age 66, 17% lower at 67, 38% lower at 70 and 48% lower at 72.
Caveat: The analysis only included subjects born between 1931 and 1941.
Association of retirement age with mortality: a population-based longitudinal study among older adults in the USA
http://www.wsj.com/articles/retiring-after-65-may-help-people-live-longer-1462202016
Human lifespan has hit its natural limit, research suggests
ReplyDeleteNicola Davis
Wednesday 5 October 2016
…though more people reach old age each year, the ceiling for human lifespan appears to be stuck at around 115 years.
“The chances are very high that we [have] really reached our maximum allotted lifespan for the first time,” said Jan Vijg, co-author of the research from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.
Figures such as Aubrey de Grey, chief scientific officer at the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (Sens) Research Foundation, have previously claimed that the first person to reach 1,000 years old is likely to be alive today.
But the new study suggests that is highly unlikely. The upshot, says Vijg, is that people should focus on enjoying life and staying healthy for as long as possible. “That’s where we have to invest our money,” he said.
…Using data for 41 countries and territories from the Human Mortality Database, the team found that life expectancy at birth has increased over the last century. That, says Vijg, is down to a number of factors, including advances in childbirth and maternity care, clean water, the development of antibiotics and vaccines and other health measures.
But while the proportion of people surviving to 70 and over has risen since 1900, the rate of improvements in survival differ greatly between levels of old age. Large gains are seen for ages 70 and up, but for ages 100 or more the rate of improvement drops rapidly. “[For] the oldest old people, we are still not very good at reducing their mortality rates,” said Vijg.
What’s more, in 88% of the countries, the ages showing the greatest rate of improvement have not changed since 1980.
The researchers then turned to the International Database on Longevity and analysed data from France, UK, the US and Japan - four countries with a high proportion of those aged 110 or above - so-called “supercentenarians”.
The researchers found that the maximum reported age at death rapidly increased between 1970 and the early 1990s, rising by around 0.15 years every year. But in the mid-to-late 90s, a plateau was reached, with the yearly maximum reported age at death at around 115 years.
Modelling of the possibility of living beyond such an age offered further insights. “Based on the data we have now, the chance that you will ever see a person of 125 [years] in a given year is about 1 in 10,000,” said Vijg.
The apparent limit to human lifespan, the authors say, is not down to a set of biological processes specifically acting to call time on life. Rather, it is a byproduct a range of genetic programmes that control processes such as growth and development.
Henne Holstege from VU University, Amsterdam works on ageing of centenarians, “…in centenarians not just the heart, but all bodily systems, have become aged and frail. If you do not die from heart disease, you die from something else.”
Medical interventions, she says, cannot solve the problem of overall decline, with the only promising approach lying in slowing down the ageing process itself. But, she added, “It is however not yet clear if and how this can be accomplished.”
But Tom Kirkwood, associate dean for ageing at Newcastle University, is sanguine that the lifespan ceiling will continue to rise.
“There is no set programme for ageing and we know that the process, which is ultimately driven by the build-up of faults and damage in the cells and organs of the body, is to some degree malleable,” he said. “Even without any change in the biology of ageing, it is almost inevitable that the current record will be broken.”…
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/oct/05/human-lifespan-has-hit-its-natural-limit-research-suggests
Rosemary and Time: Does This Italian Hamlet Have a Recipe for Long Life?
ReplyDeleteWhat in the World
By BRYANT ROUSSEAU OCT. 19, 2016
In and around Acciaroli, Italy, a particularly pungent variety of locally grown rosemary — said to smell 10 times as strong as the norm — is a daily part of the diet. Residents raise and consume their own rabbits. Anchovies hauled in by the town’s fishermen feature prominently on dinner plates.
Abundant sunshine and clean air keep people outdoors, swimming at beaches or climbing the steep hills that ripple along the Cilento Coast, south of Naples.
Do these environmental factors and food choices — a hyperlocal twist on the Mediterranean diet, which also includes olive oil and fresh vegetables — explain why so many people here, both men and women, live past 90?
…Of the area’s inhabitants, about one in 60 is 90 or older, according to the researchers. That rivals other so-called blue zones, like Sardinia and Okinawa, with unusually large concentrations of very old people. In the 2010 census, about one in every 163 Americans was 90 or older.
Biking at 88? Not so unusual in Acciaroli. The quality of life here for those with nine or 10 decades behind them is high: virtually no cataracts, few bone fractures, excellent cardio health and a low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. CreditGianni Cipriano for The New York Times
And the quality of life for people in Acciaroli with nine or 10 decades behind them is high: virtually no cataracts, few bone fractures, excellent heart health, and a low incidence of Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Maisel said.
Some studies have shown that rosemary can aid brain function, and the researchers think the variety grown in Acciaroli might have especially high concentrations of beneficial substances.
…The study of 27 households with at least one family member 90 or older found that Acciaroli’s older residents have exceptionally good microcirculation — the small capillaries that go right into tissues to deliver nutrients and remove waste.
“Their ADM levels are as good as a teenager,” said Dr. Maisel, referring to adrenomedullin, a hormone that widens blood vessels and that people typically produce more of as they age.
The genetic makeup of the people in this insular area is probably a factor as well. The study found many unidentified metabolic compounds in the locals that warrant further investigation, Dr. Maisel said.
“Have we discovered the Fountain of Youth? No,” Dr. Maisel said. “But we’re asking the right questions.”
He added, “The potential is there to live longer than 110, if we do it right.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/20/world/what-in-the-world/rosemary-and-time-does-this-italian-hamlet-have-a-recipe-for-long-life.html
The secret to living past 100 can be found in this remote Chinese village
ReplyDeleteBy Reed Tucker
July 3, 2017
When Dr. John Day first heard about a remote Chinese village where the residents — despite having few modern amenities — suffered virtually none of the diseases associated with getting old, he was rightfully skeptical.
“They don’t have doctors, medications or hospitals, yet the villagers live these remarkably healthy lives,” Day tells The Post. “It challenged everything I thought about aging.”
Day, a Salt Lake City-based cardiologist, had been studying the Chinese language as a hobby for some 25 years. In 2012, his China-based Mandarin coach mentioned a recent documentary profiling a town with “magical properties” known as “Longevity Village.”
It’s called Bapan, located in the southwest of China near the Vietnamese border, and there, nearly 1 in every 100 people is over 100 years old, compared to 1 in 5,780 in the United States.
These centenarians, however, are not wasting away, bedridden. They’re active, happy and healthy.
…Day has poured his findings into the new book he co-authored, “The Longevity Plan: Seven Life-Transforming Lessons from Ancient China.”
…Here are seven tips.
1. Eat real food
…The Bapan residents subsist on a diet consisting mostly of fresh fruit and vegetables (three times more veggies than fruit), roots, legumes and nuts. They eat fish occasionally and meat only on special occasions…
2. Change your attitude
The Bapan residents have been through wars and famines, yet somehow they maintain a positive outlook…
“The key is to embrace stress,” Day says. “Studies show that if people can learn to embrace and accept the challenge, that they live longer than people who report low levels of stress. The [Longevity Village residents] all told me they were living the best years of their lives and they believed tomorrow would be even better than today…”
3. Connect with others
…The village residents look after one another, sharing food with those who have none, for example. …Villagers live with multiple generations of family and often eat every meal together. This connectivity makes people happy and healthier.
“When your life is important for others and their lives are important for you, then you are very rich,” one woman told Day.
4. Stay in motion
…build a life in which you’re rarely sitting still. Bapan residents stay fit by working in the fields. Few even own couches…
5. Stick to a schedule
Bapan residents wake up, eat and go to bed at the same time every day. Abiding by a strict schedule simplifies life and promotes balance, Day writes.
The practice also helps us get enough sleep, a critical component of good health. Getting too little affects the expression of 700 critical genes, which control metabolism and fight infection, among other functions.
6. Purify your environment
“Clean air, food and water are important,” Day says. And the Bapan residents, because the village is so isolated, have lived lives mostly free of modern-day contaminants, including pesticides, harsh cleaning agents and other chemical pollutants.
...Also try to cut down on clutter, which leads to stress.
7. Have a passion
It could be a hobby or working well into your golden years. We humans need something that motivates us each day, especially during old age, when many people feel unneeded…
http://nypost.com/2017/07/03/the-secret-to-living-past-100-can-be-found-in-this-remote-chinese-village/
Men will live as long as women by 2032 because far fewer men are now smoking
ReplyDeleteBy Ian Drury
26 March 2018
Men will live as long as women by 2032 - for the first time since records began.
According to a new report published this week, life expectancy will be the same for both sexes within 15 years.
Rather than facing years of widowhood, a woman who marries at 30 will typically enjoy 58 years and six months with a husband of the same age - just short of a diamond wedding anniversary.
Experts said the biggest reason for the narrowing of the life expectancy gap is the changing levels of smoking between the sexes cigarettes account for about 100,000 deaths a year in the UK from cancer and heart disease.
After the Second World War, more than 80 per cent of men smoked, while female smoking peaked at 40 per cent.
Men have quit the habit faster than women, with both now down to about 16 per cent.
Professor Les Mayhew, a statistics expert at Cass Business School, who conducted the research for the report Inequalities Matter said: 'This will be the first time that men will achieve parity with women since records began in 1841.'
Baroness Greengross, chief executive of the International Longevity Centre UK, which is jointly publishing the report, said the gender gap in life expectancy had left many women to contemplate living a lonely old age.
She said: 'This is excellent news, but choose your partner wisely because you will be together for a very long time.
'There is no law of nature that says women must outlive men and this shows what happens when men look after themselves.'
Differences in lifespans have fluctuated in the past 150 years, with the gap at its widest in 1969 when women lived on average five years and eight months longer than men. It is now two-and-a-half years.
In modern peacetime, when women have been less likely to die from childbirth and fewer men die in war, the ongoing gap has been blamed on men's riskier behaviour - they are more likely to drink and smoke heavily and less likely to visit the doctor.
But according to calculations based on the life expectancy at the age of 30, the increase is not spread evenly.
The longest-surviving 5 per cent of men can expect to live on average to 96 years, nearly 34 years longer than the bottom 10 per cent.
The top 5 per cent of women celebrate their 98th birthday, while the bottom 10 per cent do not reach 70.
The report, published this week, also argues a recent plateauing in life expectancy does not mean that longevity is reaching its natural limits.
Data produced by the Office for National Statistics showed that in 2016 there were 14,910 people aged 100 and over in the UK.
But the report warns people can no longer rely on improvements in society, such as better sanitation and advances in public health, including mass vaccination, to give them extra years.
This will now depend on people's own efforts to achieve a healthier lifestyle with better diet and more exercise.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5542909/Men-live-long-women-2032-fewer-men-smoking.html
Living To 100 Requires Reimagining Life
ReplyDeleteMAY 2, 2019 • JACQUELINE SERGEANT
Laura Carstensen could hardly curb her enthusiasm as she talked about a future with an abundance of centenarians.
“Life is getting longer,” said Carstensen, the co-founder of the Stanford Center on Longevity…
“Most of you will sail through your 80s and 90s, and lots of you will live to reach 100,” Carstensen said, basing her conclusion on the assumed background, education levels and affluence in the world. She didn’t stop there.
“And your children …”
Demographers predict that children born since 2000 will live to 100, and children born in 2007 will live to be 104.
… Carstensen pointed out that life expectancy 5,000 years ago was 18. In the 1900s, life expectancy reached 47, and it reached 77 at the end of the century. Today, it’s 79 and it continues to increase, she said.
“We humans are creatures of culture, and all of these parts of culture evolved to support lives half as long as we live today,” she said. “The built world we live in is a world that was designed for the young.”
…25 percent of babies died before 1900, and many more before the age of 12. She added that death in these times was common at all ages and not associated with old age.
… “Today, education is a better predictor of life and age… Here we are where four and five generations routinely will be living at the same time. Education will change, financial planning will change, the nature of work will change. All of these things will change because of these numbers. Completely novel.”
Carstensen pointed out that fertility fell by half at the same time we gained 30 years, and that’s why we have an aging society, she said. A hundred years ago, only 4 percent of the U.S. population was over 65. Now that number will rise to 20 percent in a couple of years…
By 2035, there will be more people over 65 in the U.S. than people under 18, she added.
For men, 68 is the new 59: Men reached the point of 2 percent mortality risk at age 59 in 1970 and that’s up to age 68 today, Carstensen said. For women, 73 is the new 65. Women hit that 2 percent mortality risk at 65 in 1970 and it’s at 73 today.
Carstensen offers four key things that people need to do:
Envision longer lives, envision old age and use your imagination: The goal is to stay out of nursing homes, she said;
Design your life: Forget about willpower. Design things so your choices are healthy choices. For example, she said you should plan and prepare what you are going to have for dinner instead of getting something on the fly, which most likely will be unhealthy;
Diversify: When we had 50 years of life expectancy, we didn’t have too much to diversify, she said. Take, for example, a three- to four-day workweek that allows us to distribute our time and spend more with friends and family.
Invest in yourself: People are going to find ways to go back to school and take micro-courses. She suggests that we also invest in family, our children and other peoples’ children.
“Next time you drive by a school ground,” she said, “just squint an eye about, and what you will see are the first centenarians of the century. They are here.”
https://www.fa-mag.com/news/living-to-be-100-on-the-way-to-being-the-norm-44652.html