Living to 100
In the United States, the number of centenarians doubled in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. There are over 70,000 Americans that celebrate the century mark. By 2050 there is projected to be over 800,000 centenarians. There is the same trend in other industrialized countries.
Since more people are living to be over 100 years old, what does it take to live a long life? In a New England study, 75% of the people were able to take care of themselves at age 95, but this number dropped to 30% by age 102. Almost two-thirds of centenarians suffer from some form of dementia. In a Danish study, they reported that 72% of centenarians had cardiovascular disease, urinary incontinence 60%, osteoarthritis of a major joint 54%, and dementia 51%.
There appeared to be certain traits that most of the researchers found in common. They all participate in physical activity, eat better or at least have could genes, and centenarians exercise their brains by reading, painting, playing musical instruments and many continuing to work. The New England study found that its subjects were four times more likely to have a sibling who lived past 90 than people with an average life span. Female centenarians outnumber males by a 9:1 ratio.
It has been determined that the current 100 year olds have advantages with the advances of sanitation and routine vaccinations, and medical intervention to help fight cardiovascular disease by helping to control cholesterol levels and hypertension. Diet and other healthy habits play a role.
There are some specific behaviors among the researchers that most centenarians had in common.
- They don’t smoke or drink heavily.
- Those who had smoked didn’t do so for long.
- They gained little or no weight during adulthood. Being overweight makes people more vulnerable to many life-threatening illnesses, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke.
- They don’t overeat.
- They eat many fruits and vegetables.
- They get regular physical activity for as long as they are able. Strength-building activities, such as climbing stairs or lifting small weights, help to slow the age-related loss of muscle mass.
- They challenge their minds. Stimulating mental activity may help prevent age-related thinking and memory problems by stimulating communications b between brain cells. Particularly among elderly men, decreased cognitive performance is strongly associated with mortality.
- They have a positive outlook. The centenarians seem to have personalities that shed stress easily. An inability to control emotional stress has been linked to memory loss and heart disease.
- They are friendly and maintain close ties with family and friends. Not surprisingly, positive relationships are associated with lower rates of depression. And lower rates of depression may result in lower rates of heart disease.
We can see that centenarians are not doing anything mysterious to lengthen their lives. They are simply following the standard health commandments: don’t smoke, keep trim, get exercise, manage stress, and avoid social isolation.
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In the United States, the number of centenarians doubled in the 1980s and again in the 1990s. There are over 70,000 Americans that celebrate the century mark. By 2050 there is projected to be over 800,000 centenarians. There is the same trend in other industrialized countries.
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