From Caring.com
Clue #6: When were you born?
What it may mean: Growing lifespans give younger people an edge.
A 2011 report by the British Department for Work and Pensions estimated life expectancy for citizens at various ages, providing a snapshot that Yanks can learn from, too.
A British girl born this year has a one in three chance of living to 100; a 2011-born boy has a one in four chance. If you’re a 20-year-old woman, you have a 26.6 percent chance; a 20-year-old man has a 19.5 percent chance.
The average 50-year-old woman in the U.K. has a 14.6 percent chance of seeing 2061, the year of her diamond-anniversary birthday; just over one in 10 of her male counterparts will still be around then.
And if you’re 99 now? You have a whopping 67 percent chance of seeing another year.
Clue #7: Do you worry — but not too much?
What it may mean: There’s a “healthy” worry level.
It sounds like a punch line: “Be afraid, be very afraid — but not too much!” So-called “catastrophizers” — Eeyore-like personalities who fret about impending doom, see the glass as half-empty, and are harshly self-critical — tend to die sooner, according to psychology professor Leslie R. Martin of La Sierra University.
On the other hand, a moderate amount of anxiety and worry is associated with a 50-percent decreased risk of death in any given year, she says. Moderate worriers tend to be less impulsive, take fewer risks, have less risky hobbies, and plan for alternatives, which may all be protective without adding a negative health impact.
Clue #8: Is your weight normal — or are you only slightly overweight?
What it may mean: You have better odds of reaching 100 than if you were obese.
A surprising 2011 Albert Einstein College of Medicine study of 477 adults ages 95 to 112 found that these solid-gold agers had no better health habits overall than a comparison group born at the same time that had been studied in the 1970s. One difference: Those in long-lived group were much less likely to be obese.
Both male and female centenarians in the study were overweight at about the same rates as those in the shorter-lived group. But only 4.5 percent of the long-lived men and 9.6 of the women were obese, compared to 12.1 percent and 16.2 percent, respectively, of the younger-lived controls. (“Normal weight” is a Body Mass Index — or BMI, a measure of height in proportion to weight — in the range of 18 to 24; “overweight” is 25 to 30; over 30 is “obese.”)
This finding echoes other studies showing the greatest risks of death among those who are obese or underweight at age 65 (BMI under 18.5), compared to those of normal weight or slight overweight. A 2011 study at Loma Linda University in Southern California found that men over age 75 with a BMI over 27.4 lived nearly four years less than those with a lower BMI. For women over age 75, a BMI over 27.4 led to a two-year shorter lifespan. Studies of centenarians show that men who reach 100 are almost always lean (more so than women).
Luckily, this clue is one you can control. “Since you can’t be sure if you’ll live to 100, I wouldn’t take the chance of ignoring the lifestyle interventions that we know will at least put you in the half the population who die after age 80 — starting with watching weight and being sure to exercise,” says the senior author of the Albert Einstein study, Nir Barzilai, director of the college’s Institute for Aging Research.
Clue # 9: How long are your telomeres?
What it may mean: Many people who live to 100 have a hyperactive version of an enzyme that rebuilds telomeres.
“What-o-meres?” you ask. Telomeres are protective DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes that gradually shorten as cells divide. (Pioneering telomere researcher Elizabeth Blackburn of the University of California-San Francisco compares them to shoelace caps.) Eventually the telomeres become so short that cells stop dividing, a condition called senescence, creating the effects we recognize as aging in related tissue.
Scientists are still unraveling the key role telomeres seem to play in aging, cancer, and other biological processes, but this much is clear: The longer your telomeres, the more time you’re apt to have left. A 2010 Italian study reported that cancer-free people with shorter telomeres were more likely to develop cancer within ten years than those with longer telomeres, for example.
Some studies show that removing chronic stress, not smoking, and eating a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids can improve telomere length. Those centenarians with hyperactive telomere-making apparatus can probably thank their genes, though.
New blood tests are now being marketed directly to consumers, purporting to predict longevity based on telomere length. But critics caution that there aren’t standards for measuring telomere length and that there can be such variability in telomeres that it’s hard to predict much of anything from a sample.
Clue #10: Are you a positive person?
What it may mean: Emotion influences health, which influences aging.
Some studies have shown that an upbeat attitude about aging adds years. But long-term studies conducted at the Stanford Longevity Center show that emotions, more than attitudes, may be the biologic mechanism at work, says Laura Carstensen, the center’s director.
“What’s the mechanism at work here? Feeling upbeat about your life means you experience less stress, which in turn affects cortisol levels, which can affect health,” she says. Stanford researchers periodically assess 19 different emotions in subjects randomly polled over 1 week at 5-year intervals. Having more positive emotions than negative ones is associated with living longer.
Carstensen is a firm believer that while “slow agers” clearly exist, there’s more to their stories than lucky genes. “There’s mounting evidence that genes play a role in longevity, but genes play a role in almost everything,” she says. “They don’t express themselves in vacuums — there are very complex interactions between genes and lifestyle.” So all that advice on how to live to 100? Can’t hurt to heed it.
Blessings for Seniors makes it possible for older adults to enjoy the comforts of their own home for as long as possible. We offer a customized care plan that includes services such as; Hourly Senior Home Care, 24-Hour Home Care, Dementia Care, Personal Care and Companion Care. Also ask us about our Veterans’ Home Care program.
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