Um fato foi ignorado pelos pesquisadores neurológicas durante anos, enquanto se esforçaram para encontrar uma "bala mágica" que iria reverter a doença de Alzheimer.
Agora, estudos recentes mostram uma correlação positiva entre a vitamina E e o retardamento do declínio cognitivo em pacientes com Alzheimer moderado, existem muitos pesquisadores dizendo que o reforço global da saúde do cérebro pode ser um dos fatores-chave na manutenção de níveis ótimos de funcionamento do cérebro à medida que envelhecemos.
Faz sentido então um programa de estilo de vida que tenha como meta a longevidade cerebral e que seja eficaz para nutrir o cérebro em cada nível. Modificações do estilo de vida já provou ser eficaz para ajudar pacientes que sofrem das três maiores causas de morte de pessoas no mundo: doenças cardíacas, câncer e derrames.
É extremamente importante obtermos informações para que possamos evitar o holocausto potencial de degeneração cerebral em números surpreendente, pois a expectativa de vida da população mundial cresce com o passar dos anos e garantir uma qualidade de vida é tudo que esperamos e buscamos.
É imprescindível ajudar as pessoas para reduzir a perda de memória associada a idades mais avançadas, pesquisas demonstram que 15% das pessoas que pensavam ter um distúrbio benigno, progridem para um quadro de demência real. Se pudermos prevenir, talvez nós podemos limitar o declínio cognitivo associado ao envelhecimento; invés de entrar numa espiral de degeneração a cada ano que passa, podemos entrar em um ciclo de regeneração e que estas pessoas contribuam com sabedoria às gerações que se seguem.
Dicas par um programa de longevidade do cérebro:
1) A primeira dica é a alteração nutricional, incluindo de 1 a 20% de gordura na dieta e de suplementos especiais. Um Programa de Longevidade do cérebro tem que ter um cardápio vegetariano? A resposta é não. As pessoas simplesmente têm de se afastar do que costumava ser chamado de uma dieta rica em gorduras saturadas, alimentos ricos em colesterol, como carne e ovos.
Adição de peito de frango, peixe e produtos de proteína não- animal, como o tofu . Certos peixes são especialmente bons para o cérebro.
Estes peixes incluem salmão, atum, truta, cavala e sardinha. No que diz respeito a suplementação , o mais importante são as vitaminas do complexo B para repor a energia, 50 mg por dia de vitamina E, 400-800 UI ao dia para ação anti-oxidante, coenzima Q-10, 100 mg por dia, por seu efeitos neuro-protetores, a erva Gingko Biloba, 120 mg por dia para aumentar o fluxo sanguíneo para o cérebro, e um composto relativamente novo para o cérebro específico com o nome científico de Phosphatidylserine, em doses de 200-300 mg por dia, é o tema de muitos estudos em todo o mundo, mostrando que melhora a atenção, concentração, memória de curto prazo e dá um efeito de proteção contra produtos químicos de estresse. Isto é extremamente importante e leva a segunda dica de um programa de longevidade do cérebro.
2) A segunda dica é a gestão de estresse.É crucial porque estresse crônico, desequilibra e provoca elevação do hormônio cortisol. O cortisol tem um efeito tóxico sobre o centro de memória do cérebro e pode causar perda de memória. A ferramenta de gerenciamento de estresse através da meditação reduz o cortisol e aumenta em muitos aspectos a função mental. Massagens guiadas por imagens mentais positivas também têm obtido sucesso para reduzir níveis de cortisol no sangue.
3) O exercício é a terceira dica, e deve ser dividido em três partes: exercício mental, exercício físico e exercício da mente /corpo:
3.a-) Exercício Mental - Em nenhum lugar se aplica mais o velho ditado do que no cérebro: "Use-o ou perca-o". Na verdade, Einstein tinha um cérebro razoavelmente normal quando se tratava de seus neurônios. Entretanto, o que era extremamente incomum foi a estrutura de seu cérebro, rica em apoio de células. Ou seja de tanto exercitá-lo o manteve saudável.
3.b-) Condicionamento aeróbico melhora a função mental, de 20 a 30%.Portanto o máximo que for possível é recomendada a pessoas que possam praticar este tipo de exercício.
3.c) A antiga arte de regeneração do cérebro, e de espírito inovador / exercícios de corpo, com a prática de yoga e meditação avançada, são importantes para reforçar a energia global do cérebro.
4) Um dos fármacos utilizados na atualidade para ajudar a regenerar as células cerebrais é L-Deprenyl citrato. Deprenyl é um medicamento que foi estudado para aumentar a longevidade em animais e aumento de compostos bioquímicos no cérebro. Em estudos recentes de pacientes com doença de Alzheimer moderada, Deprenyl melhorou a atenção, memória, fluência verbal e comportamento. Como Deprenyl pode retardar o declínio na cognição é um componente importante para aqueles que apresentam alguma forma de envelhecimento do cérebro.
Tal como acontece com todos os medicamentos, há relatos de efeitos colaterais e contra-indicações. Os efeitos secundários associados com Deprenyl podem incluir ansiedade e insônia, se a dose é muito alta. Pode ser contra-indicado em doentes que tomam anti-depressivos como o Prozac, e naqueles indivíduos que sofrem de doenças cardíacas. Deprenyl só devem ser prescritos e tomados sob a supervisão do seu médico.
segunda-feira, 22 de março de 2010
idade mental
Sensação de juventude pode afetar longevidade, diz estudo
03/03 - 10:29 - BBC Brasil
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A idade que a pessoa sente ter pode afetar o processo de envelhecimento, de acordo com um estudo publicado na revista especializada americana Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.
Pesquisadores da universidade de Purdue dizem que a idade cronológica importa, mas a "própria interpretação da sua idade" tem consequências ainda mais duradouras.
"Se você se sente mais velho do que a sua idade cronológica, provavelmente vai experimentar várias das desvantagens associadas ao envelhecimento", afirma Markus Schafer, que coordenou a pesquisa.
Por outro lado, Schafer diz que aqueles que são mais velhos, mas tem a sensação de serem mais novos, "têm vantagens para manter várias das habilidades que se valoriza".
Pesquisa nacional
Schafer e a coautora do estudo, Tetyana Shippee, compararam a idade cronológica e a idade subjetiva de diversos indivíduos para determinar qual delas tem maior influência sobre as suas capacidades cognitivas.
Quase 500 pessoas com idades entre 55 e 74 anos foram entrevistadas sobre envelhecimento em 1995 e em 2005 pela Pesquisa Nacional sobre Desenvolvimento na Meia Idade nos Estados Unidos.
Na primeira etapa, em 1995, a maioria das pessoas respondeu se sentir 12 anos mais nova do que realmente era, ao ser perguntada sobre que idade sentiam ter na maior parte do tempo.
"Descobrimos que essas pessoas que se sentiam jovens para a própria idade tinham mais chances de ter uma segurança maior sobre as suas capacidades cognitivas uma década mais tarde", afirma Schafer.
O especialista em gerontologia admite, no entanto, não saber o que vem primeiro: se o bem estar e a felicidade da pessoa afeta as suas capacidades cognitivas ou se as capacidades cognitivas é que afetam a sensação de bem estar.
"Estamos planejando descobrir isso em um futuro estudo", acrescenta.
Implicações
Para Schafer, as descobertas do seu mais recente estudo têm implicações positivas e negativas, já que há muita pressão da sociedade para as pessoas ficarem jovens por cada vez mais tempo. Por isso, quando inevitavelmente envelhecem, as pessoas podem perder a confiança em suas capacidades cognitivas.
"Por outro lado, por causa desse desejo de se manter jovem nos Estados Unidos, podem existir benefícios em tentar manter uma sensação de jovialidade ao se manter informado sobre as últimas tendências e atividades que revigoram."
O pesquisador diz ainda que aprender a dominar novas tecnologias pode ser outra forma de continuar a melhorar a capacidade cognitiva.
Estudos anteriores indicavam que as mulheres são mais suscetíveis a estereótipos relativos à idade. Por isso, a expectativa era que elas fossem se sentir mais velhas do que os homens e menos confiantes. No entanto, de acordo com a nova pesquisa, a diferença, embora exista, "não foi tão significativa quanto se esperava".
03/03 - 10:29 - BBC Brasil
ImprimirEnviarCorrigirNotícias SMSFale Conosco
A idade que a pessoa sente ter pode afetar o processo de envelhecimento, de acordo com um estudo publicado na revista especializada americana Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.
Pesquisadores da universidade de Purdue dizem que a idade cronológica importa, mas a "própria interpretação da sua idade" tem consequências ainda mais duradouras.
"Se você se sente mais velho do que a sua idade cronológica, provavelmente vai experimentar várias das desvantagens associadas ao envelhecimento", afirma Markus Schafer, que coordenou a pesquisa.
Por outro lado, Schafer diz que aqueles que são mais velhos, mas tem a sensação de serem mais novos, "têm vantagens para manter várias das habilidades que se valoriza".
Pesquisa nacional
Schafer e a coautora do estudo, Tetyana Shippee, compararam a idade cronológica e a idade subjetiva de diversos indivíduos para determinar qual delas tem maior influência sobre as suas capacidades cognitivas.
Quase 500 pessoas com idades entre 55 e 74 anos foram entrevistadas sobre envelhecimento em 1995 e em 2005 pela Pesquisa Nacional sobre Desenvolvimento na Meia Idade nos Estados Unidos.
Na primeira etapa, em 1995, a maioria das pessoas respondeu se sentir 12 anos mais nova do que realmente era, ao ser perguntada sobre que idade sentiam ter na maior parte do tempo.
"Descobrimos que essas pessoas que se sentiam jovens para a própria idade tinham mais chances de ter uma segurança maior sobre as suas capacidades cognitivas uma década mais tarde", afirma Schafer.
O especialista em gerontologia admite, no entanto, não saber o que vem primeiro: se o bem estar e a felicidade da pessoa afeta as suas capacidades cognitivas ou se as capacidades cognitivas é que afetam a sensação de bem estar.
"Estamos planejando descobrir isso em um futuro estudo", acrescenta.
Implicações
Para Schafer, as descobertas do seu mais recente estudo têm implicações positivas e negativas, já que há muita pressão da sociedade para as pessoas ficarem jovens por cada vez mais tempo. Por isso, quando inevitavelmente envelhecem, as pessoas podem perder a confiança em suas capacidades cognitivas.
"Por outro lado, por causa desse desejo de se manter jovem nos Estados Unidos, podem existir benefícios em tentar manter uma sensação de jovialidade ao se manter informado sobre as últimas tendências e atividades que revigoram."
O pesquisador diz ainda que aprender a dominar novas tecnologias pode ser outra forma de continuar a melhorar a capacidade cognitiva.
Estudos anteriores indicavam que as mulheres são mais suscetíveis a estereótipos relativos à idade. Por isso, a expectativa era que elas fossem se sentir mais velhas do que os homens e menos confiantes. No entanto, de acordo com a nova pesquisa, a diferença, embora exista, "não foi tão significativa quanto se esperava".
centenarios
Objectives: To report phenotypic characteristics of 32 age-validated supercentenarians.
Design: Case series.
Setting: U.S.-based recruitment effort.
Participants: Thirty-two supercentenarians.
Measurements: Multiple forms of proof were used to validate age claims. Sociodemographic, activities of daily living, and medical history data were collected.
Results: Age range was 110 to 119. Fifty-nine percent had Barthel Index scores in the partially to totally dependent range, whereas 41% required minimal assistance or were independent. Few subjects had a history of clinically evident vascular-related diseases, including myocardial infarction (n=2, 6%) and stroke (n=4, 13%). Twenty-two percent (n=7) were taking medications for hypertension. Twenty-five percent (n=8) had a history of cancer (all cured). Diabetes mellitus (n=1, 3%) and Parkinson's disease (n=1, 3%) were rare. Osteoporosis (n=14, 44%) and cataract history (n=28, 88%) were common.
Conclusion: Data collected thus far suggest that supercentenarians markedly delay and even escape clinical expression of vascular disease toward the end of their exceptionally long lives. A surprisingly substantial proportion of these individuals were still functionally independent or required minimal assistance.
Introduction
The remarkable growth in the number of centenarians (aged≥100) has garnered significant attention over the past 20 or so years. Consequently, a number of centenarian studies have emerged, ranging in emphasis from demographic to genetic. Recently, an even more extreme group, supercentenarians, or people aged 110 and older, has begun to yield sufficient numbers to warrant descriptive studies.
Great effort and diligence is required to locate living supercentenarians and validate their age claims. Claims of ages beyond that of the oldest well-accepted age of 122 years (Madame Jeanne Calment) regularly surface in the media, but these are invariably unsubstantiated.[1-3] The U.S. census listed 1,400 supercentenarians in 2000 (about 1 per 200,000),[4] but an e-mail based effort facilitated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG, http://www.grg.org) that monitors and validates claims of age 110 and older estimates the number of living supercentenarians in the United States to be approximately 60 to 70 (or approximately 1 supercentenarian per 6 million people) and 250 to 300 worldwide. One study reported Medicare data indicating that, in 2000, there were 32,920 centenarians and that, of these, 105 (0.3%) were age 110 and older.[5] One study estimated that seven in 1,000 people born at the turn of the last century lived to become centenarians and that one in 100,000 lived to be 110 or older.[6]
Because of the efforts of the GRG and the International Database on Longevity (http://www.supercentenarians.org), it has become possible to go beyond single anecdotal case descriptions to formal case series. Reports of supercentenarians have only examined the demography, identification, and age-verification of these individuals.[7-10] Here, the first phenotypic characterization of a case series of 32 supercentenarians is reported.
Centenarians have been found to exhibit marked delays in functional decline and in most cases age-related lethal diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke.[11] Compression of functional decline toward the relative end of their long lives might be a prerequisite or at least a marker of the ability to live to 100. In a sample of 105 centenarians, 88% were functionally independent at a mean age of 92.[12] Such compression of disability is even more pronounced in male centenarians.[13] Early experience with supercentenarians has led to the hypothesis that such a delay must be extended at least through age 100 for a person to survive to age 110 or older.
Design: Case series.
Setting: U.S.-based recruitment effort.
Participants: Thirty-two supercentenarians.
Measurements: Multiple forms of proof were used to validate age claims. Sociodemographic, activities of daily living, and medical history data were collected.
Results: Age range was 110 to 119. Fifty-nine percent had Barthel Index scores in the partially to totally dependent range, whereas 41% required minimal assistance or were independent. Few subjects had a history of clinically evident vascular-related diseases, including myocardial infarction (n=2, 6%) and stroke (n=4, 13%). Twenty-two percent (n=7) were taking medications for hypertension. Twenty-five percent (n=8) had a history of cancer (all cured). Diabetes mellitus (n=1, 3%) and Parkinson's disease (n=1, 3%) were rare. Osteoporosis (n=14, 44%) and cataract history (n=28, 88%) were common.
Conclusion: Data collected thus far suggest that supercentenarians markedly delay and even escape clinical expression of vascular disease toward the end of their exceptionally long lives. A surprisingly substantial proportion of these individuals were still functionally independent or required minimal assistance.
Introduction
The remarkable growth in the number of centenarians (aged≥100) has garnered significant attention over the past 20 or so years. Consequently, a number of centenarian studies have emerged, ranging in emphasis from demographic to genetic. Recently, an even more extreme group, supercentenarians, or people aged 110 and older, has begun to yield sufficient numbers to warrant descriptive studies.
Great effort and diligence is required to locate living supercentenarians and validate their age claims. Claims of ages beyond that of the oldest well-accepted age of 122 years (Madame Jeanne Calment) regularly surface in the media, but these are invariably unsubstantiated.[1-3] The U.S. census listed 1,400 supercentenarians in 2000 (about 1 per 200,000),[4] but an e-mail based effort facilitated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG, http://www.grg.org) that monitors and validates claims of age 110 and older estimates the number of living supercentenarians in the United States to be approximately 60 to 70 (or approximately 1 supercentenarian per 6 million people) and 250 to 300 worldwide. One study reported Medicare data indicating that, in 2000, there were 32,920 centenarians and that, of these, 105 (0.3%) were age 110 and older.[5] One study estimated that seven in 1,000 people born at the turn of the last century lived to become centenarians and that one in 100,000 lived to be 110 or older.[6]
Because of the efforts of the GRG and the International Database on Longevity (http://www.supercentenarians.org), it has become possible to go beyond single anecdotal case descriptions to formal case series. Reports of supercentenarians have only examined the demography, identification, and age-verification of these individuals.[7-10] Here, the first phenotypic characterization of a case series of 32 supercentenarians is reported.
Centenarians have been found to exhibit marked delays in functional decline and in most cases age-related lethal diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and stroke.[11] Compression of functional decline toward the relative end of their long lives might be a prerequisite or at least a marker of the ability to live to 100. In a sample of 105 centenarians, 88% were functionally independent at a mean age of 92.[12] Such compression of disability is even more pronounced in male centenarians.[13] Early experience with supercentenarians has led to the hypothesis that such a delay must be extended at least through age 100 for a person to survive to age 110 or older.
bilbliografia
Bennett, N.G. and L.K. Garson (1986) Extraordinary longevity in the Soviet Union: Fact or artifact? The Gerontologist 26:358-361.
Coale, A.J. and S.M. Li (1991) The effect of age misreporting in China on the calculation of mortality rates at very high ages. Demography 28:293-301.
Leaf, A. (1985) Statement regarding the purported longevous peoples of Vilcabamba. In Wershow, H.J. (Ed.). Controversial issues in gerontology. Springer, N.Y.
Manton, K.G. and J.W. Vaupel (1995) Survival after the age of 80 in the United States, Sweden, France, England, and Japan. New England Journal of Medicine 333:1232-35.
Mason, K.O. and L.G. Cope (1987) Sources of age and date-of-birth misreporting in the 1900 U.S. census. Demography 24:563-73.
Matsuzaki, T. (1989) Examination of centenarians and factors affecting longevity in Japan. In Hishinuma, S. (Ed.) Why do the Japanese live so long? Dobun, Tokyo.
Mazess, R.B. and S. Forman (1979) Longevity and age exaggeration in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Journal of Gerontology 34:94-98.
Medvedev, Z.A. (1974) Caucases and altay longevity: a biological or social problem? The Gerontologist 14:381-387.
Palmore, E.B. (1984) Longevity in Abkhazia: A reevaluation. The Gerontologist 24:95-96.
Robine, J.-M. and M. Allard (1995) Validation of the exceptional longevity case of a 120 year old woman. Facts and Research in Gerontology 363-367.
Rosenwaike, I. and S.H. Preston (1984) Age overstatement and Puerto Rican longevity. Human Biology 56:503-25.
Thorson, J.A. (1995) Aging in a changing society. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1987) America's centenarians: Data from the 1980 census. Current Population Report (Series P-23, No. 153). Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
Wilmoth, J.R. (1994) The Earliest Centenarians: A Statistical Analysis. In Jeune, B. and J.W. Vaupel (Eds.). Exceptional Longevity: From Prehistory to the Present. Odense Monographs on Population Aging 2. Odense University Press, Odense.
Wilmoth, J.R. and H. Lundstrom (1996), Extreme longevity in five countries: Presentation of trends with special attention to issues of data quality. European Journal of Population 12:63-93.
Wilmoth J.R., A. Skytthe, D. Friou, and B. Jeune (1996), The Oldest Man Ever? A Case Study of Exceptional Longevity. The Gerontologist 36:783-788.
Coale, A.J. and S.M. Li (1991) The effect of age misreporting in China on the calculation of mortality rates at very high ages. Demography 28:293-301.
Leaf, A. (1985) Statement regarding the purported longevous peoples of Vilcabamba. In Wershow, H.J. (Ed.). Controversial issues in gerontology. Springer, N.Y.
Manton, K.G. and J.W. Vaupel (1995) Survival after the age of 80 in the United States, Sweden, France, England, and Japan. New England Journal of Medicine 333:1232-35.
Mason, K.O. and L.G. Cope (1987) Sources of age and date-of-birth misreporting in the 1900 U.S. census. Demography 24:563-73.
Matsuzaki, T. (1989) Examination of centenarians and factors affecting longevity in Japan. In Hishinuma, S. (Ed.) Why do the Japanese live so long? Dobun, Tokyo.
Mazess, R.B. and S. Forman (1979) Longevity and age exaggeration in Vilcabamba, Ecuador. Journal of Gerontology 34:94-98.
Medvedev, Z.A. (1974) Caucases and altay longevity: a biological or social problem? The Gerontologist 14:381-387.
Palmore, E.B. (1984) Longevity in Abkhazia: A reevaluation. The Gerontologist 24:95-96.
Robine, J.-M. and M. Allard (1995) Validation of the exceptional longevity case of a 120 year old woman. Facts and Research in Gerontology 363-367.
Rosenwaike, I. and S.H. Preston (1984) Age overstatement and Puerto Rican longevity. Human Biology 56:503-25.
Thorson, J.A. (1995) Aging in a changing society. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA
U.S. Bureau of the Census (1987) America's centenarians: Data from the 1980 census. Current Population Report (Series P-23, No. 153). Government Printing Office, Washington D.C.
Wilmoth, J.R. (1994) The Earliest Centenarians: A Statistical Analysis. In Jeune, B. and J.W. Vaupel (Eds.). Exceptional Longevity: From Prehistory to the Present. Odense Monographs on Population Aging 2. Odense University Press, Odense.
Wilmoth, J.R. and H. Lundstrom (1996), Extreme longevity in five countries: Presentation of trends with special attention to issues of data quality. European Journal of Population 12:63-93.
Wilmoth J.R., A. Skytthe, D. Friou, and B. Jeune (1996), The Oldest Man Ever? A Case Study of Exceptional Longevity. The Gerontologist 36:783-788.
The Secret of Life
Okinawans, the world's longest-lived people, have a lot to teach Americans on the art of reaching 100
From The Boston Globe, May 22, 2001
It's best known for the bloody US invasion near the end of World War II, but Okinawa's legacy is not mainly about death. In fact, the residents of Okinawa may be the healthiest and longest-lived people in the world, with a higher percentage of 100-year-olds than anyplace else.
On Okinawa, an island chain of 1.4 million people near Japan, heart disease, strokes and cancer are rare and even centenarians have impressively sharp minds.
Researchers say the people of Okinawa may have important lessons for fast-food-loving, couch-potato Americans, who typically die five years younger - and rarely make it to the century mark unless they are blessed with exceptional genes that protect them from the ravages of disease.
A 25-year study of elder Okinawans credits at least two-thirds of their robust health to lifestyle choices rather than good genes. In stark contrast to American habits, Okinawans eat a vegetable-based diet low in both calories and fats, and rich in soy foods, and they exercise regularly.
''Never in the history of nutrition research has the evidence been more clear and consistent,'' wrote Bradley J. and D. Craig Willcox, twin brothers who have written ''The Okinawa Program'' about the long-running study with co-author Dr. Makoto Suzuki. ''A high-carbohydrate, low-calorie, plant-based diet is the best for long-term health.''
Indeed, Okinawans seem to lose their longevity when they migrate to the West or adopt a US-style diet. For instance, the life expectancy of Okinawans living in Brazil drops 17 years, researchers say. Even young people remaining in Okinawa are succumbing to the lure of McDonald's and the fast-food way of life, the scientists say, driving up their cholesterol levels and other heart-disease risks.
But it's not just diet that has helped 400 living Okinawans reach age 100 - a rate three to six times higher than in the United States. Also in the Okinawans' favor, the researchers say, is their practice of martial arts exercises, a positive spiritual attitude, and a low-stress way of living with its own, slower pace they call ''Okinawa time.''
To be sure, other remote people have been held up as the longest-lived in the past, particularly residents of the Caucasuses region of the former Soviet Union who became such symbols of longevity that they were featured in yogurt advertisements. But researchers found that age exaggeration was rampant and that they weren't especially long-lived after all.
The people of Okinawa, by contrast, have been meticulously recording births and deaths in family registers since 1879, allowing researchers to verify every 100-year-old claim.
In some ways, it should come as no surprise that the highest rate of centenarians is among the Japanese, who have the longest life expectancy in the world. Researchers say that partly reflects genetic advantages: The Japanese tend to be smaller and less prone to obesity than other races, which means less exertion for the heart and other vital organs.
But researchers say the Okinawan experience underscores how many years of healthy living Americans squander through bad diets, smoking and other vices. Many of the same people living to 100 there would have died in their 80s or 90s in the United States.
''Generally, people have genes that should be getting them to their mid-80s. ... In our country, we live about 10 years less than that on average because of terrible health habits,'' explained Dr. Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
In general, Perls said New England's 100-year-olds are monuments to good genes that kept them alive in spite of bad habits. But there are clues to the importance of good lifestyle choices even among these rare individuals.
''None of our centenarians are significantly obese and you can't have a history of smoking,'' Perls said. ''We have very few centenarians who ever smoked.''
Dr. Bradley J. Willcox, currently a gerontology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; his brother, D. Craig Willcox; and Dr. Makoto Suzuki, who heads the Okinawan study, are convinced that a look to the East will end any doubts that people have great control over how long they will live. Their book, published this month, contains guidelines and healthy recipes intended to help people adopt more of an Okinawan lifestyle in as little as four weeks.
They don't guarantee that everyone would reach the century mark by following the Okinawan example, but Americans could become more robust in their later years.
Older Okinawans, the study revealed, eat an average of seven servings of vegetables and fruits daily, along with seven servings of grain, two servings of soy products (rich in healthful compounds called flavonoids), fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids several times a week, and very little dairy products or meat.
Exercise is a way of life for Okinawans and it's connected to their spiritual beliefs, which combine a reverence for nature with celebration of elders and ancestors and a ''help your neighbor'' ethic in the community.
As a strategy for long life, it works: One part of the Okinawa Centenarian study found that, of 32 100-year-olds, just four were in nursing homes. ''The other 28 were all free-living,'' Suzuki said during a recent interview.
But would Americans make the lifestyle sacrifice? Even younger Okinawans are going astray, said Suzuki, a professor of gerontology at Okinawa International University, with the invasion of McDonald's and other Western lifestyle fads. Rapidly, they're getting Western-style health problems, too.
''Their way of thinking has changed,'' Suzuki said. With husband and wife both working, they're relying more on convenience foods and becoming less involved in their communities, he said. But the elders, he said, ''are still eating the traditional foods,'' such as sweet potatoes, tofu, and melon.
Americans won't change overnight, the authors say, but they note that a shift toward somewhat more healthy lifestyles has already resulted in less disability among the elderly.
It's not necessary to recreate the Okinawan way of life. ''You can slip soy into practically anything,'' said Willcox, who is a first-year fellow in the gerontology department headed by Dr. Thomas Perls at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
For breakfast one recent day, said Willcox, ''I had scrambled eggs with tofu and a little spinach - and two pieces of toast.'' It's not necessary to give up America-style food, he said, but it should be prepared with less oil, salt and sugar and eaten in smaller proportions than the ''super-size'' meals at fast-food restaurants.
Eating fewer calories has been shown in animal experiments to boost longevity. The Okinawans do this naturally: They eat until they are about 80 percent full, and after 20 or 30 minutes, their stomachs have adjusted to the smaller meal.
Still, the diet may be the toughest part for Westerners to swallow: It makes the US government's Food Pyramid look almost indulgent. To advocates of the Okinawan diet, the food pyramid allows too much red meat and doesn't emphasize vegetables and fruits enough.
Here's a visual formula for the Okinawan diet: Think of the plate as a pie chart with three-fourths of it blacked in - that's the right proportion of vegetables at each meal. The one-fourth remaining - that's for animal products.
For Americans, the biggest benefits of adopting a healthy diet and avoiding illness appears to be better health in their 70s and 80s, rather than an increase in 100-year-olds, according to Perls, the Beth Israel Deaconess gerontologist. His study of New England centenarians showed that good genes were increasingly important in the oldest decades. In other words, he said, ''to get that last 15 or 20 years, you need genetic booster rockets.''
Now, Perls is planning to collaborate with Willcox and his colleagues to combine findings of the Okinawan and New England projects.
If Americans could adopt some of the Okinawan practices, such as a healthier diet, along with stopping smoking, taking up strength training, and reducing obesity, he said, ''The benefits would be huge in terms of the health of our society.''
Richard Saltus, Globe Staff
May 22, 2001
Okinawans, the world's longest-lived people, have a lot to teach Americans on the art of reaching 100
From The Boston Globe, May 22, 2001
It's best known for the bloody US invasion near the end of World War II, but Okinawa's legacy is not mainly about death. In fact, the residents of Okinawa may be the healthiest and longest-lived people in the world, with a higher percentage of 100-year-olds than anyplace else.
On Okinawa, an island chain of 1.4 million people near Japan, heart disease, strokes and cancer are rare and even centenarians have impressively sharp minds.
Researchers say the people of Okinawa may have important lessons for fast-food-loving, couch-potato Americans, who typically die five years younger - and rarely make it to the century mark unless they are blessed with exceptional genes that protect them from the ravages of disease.
A 25-year study of elder Okinawans credits at least two-thirds of their robust health to lifestyle choices rather than good genes. In stark contrast to American habits, Okinawans eat a vegetable-based diet low in both calories and fats, and rich in soy foods, and they exercise regularly.
''Never in the history of nutrition research has the evidence been more clear and consistent,'' wrote Bradley J. and D. Craig Willcox, twin brothers who have written ''The Okinawa Program'' about the long-running study with co-author Dr. Makoto Suzuki. ''A high-carbohydrate, low-calorie, plant-based diet is the best for long-term health.''
Indeed, Okinawans seem to lose their longevity when they migrate to the West or adopt a US-style diet. For instance, the life expectancy of Okinawans living in Brazil drops 17 years, researchers say. Even young people remaining in Okinawa are succumbing to the lure of McDonald's and the fast-food way of life, the scientists say, driving up their cholesterol levels and other heart-disease risks.
But it's not just diet that has helped 400 living Okinawans reach age 100 - a rate three to six times higher than in the United States. Also in the Okinawans' favor, the researchers say, is their practice of martial arts exercises, a positive spiritual attitude, and a low-stress way of living with its own, slower pace they call ''Okinawa time.''
To be sure, other remote people have been held up as the longest-lived in the past, particularly residents of the Caucasuses region of the former Soviet Union who became such symbols of longevity that they were featured in yogurt advertisements. But researchers found that age exaggeration was rampant and that they weren't especially long-lived after all.
The people of Okinawa, by contrast, have been meticulously recording births and deaths in family registers since 1879, allowing researchers to verify every 100-year-old claim.
In some ways, it should come as no surprise that the highest rate of centenarians is among the Japanese, who have the longest life expectancy in the world. Researchers say that partly reflects genetic advantages: The Japanese tend to be smaller and less prone to obesity than other races, which means less exertion for the heart and other vital organs.
But researchers say the Okinawan experience underscores how many years of healthy living Americans squander through bad diets, smoking and other vices. Many of the same people living to 100 there would have died in their 80s or 90s in the United States.
''Generally, people have genes that should be getting them to their mid-80s. ... In our country, we live about 10 years less than that on average because of terrible health habits,'' explained Dr. Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
In general, Perls said New England's 100-year-olds are monuments to good genes that kept them alive in spite of bad habits. But there are clues to the importance of good lifestyle choices even among these rare individuals.
''None of our centenarians are significantly obese and you can't have a history of smoking,'' Perls said. ''We have very few centenarians who ever smoked.''
Dr. Bradley J. Willcox, currently a gerontology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; his brother, D. Craig Willcox; and Dr. Makoto Suzuki, who heads the Okinawan study, are convinced that a look to the East will end any doubts that people have great control over how long they will live. Their book, published this month, contains guidelines and healthy recipes intended to help people adopt more of an Okinawan lifestyle in as little as four weeks.
They don't guarantee that everyone would reach the century mark by following the Okinawan example, but Americans could become more robust in their later years.
Older Okinawans, the study revealed, eat an average of seven servings of vegetables and fruits daily, along with seven servings of grain, two servings of soy products (rich in healthful compounds called flavonoids), fish rich in Omega-3 fatty acids several times a week, and very little dairy products or meat.
Exercise is a way of life for Okinawans and it's connected to their spiritual beliefs, which combine a reverence for nature with celebration of elders and ancestors and a ''help your neighbor'' ethic in the community.
As a strategy for long life, it works: One part of the Okinawa Centenarian study found that, of 32 100-year-olds, just four were in nursing homes. ''The other 28 were all free-living,'' Suzuki said during a recent interview.
But would Americans make the lifestyle sacrifice? Even younger Okinawans are going astray, said Suzuki, a professor of gerontology at Okinawa International University, with the invasion of McDonald's and other Western lifestyle fads. Rapidly, they're getting Western-style health problems, too.
''Their way of thinking has changed,'' Suzuki said. With husband and wife both working, they're relying more on convenience foods and becoming less involved in their communities, he said. But the elders, he said, ''are still eating the traditional foods,'' such as sweet potatoes, tofu, and melon.
Americans won't change overnight, the authors say, but they note that a shift toward somewhat more healthy lifestyles has already resulted in less disability among the elderly.
It's not necessary to recreate the Okinawan way of life. ''You can slip soy into practically anything,'' said Willcox, who is a first-year fellow in the gerontology department headed by Dr. Thomas Perls at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
For breakfast one recent day, said Willcox, ''I had scrambled eggs with tofu and a little spinach - and two pieces of toast.'' It's not necessary to give up America-style food, he said, but it should be prepared with less oil, salt and sugar and eaten in smaller proportions than the ''super-size'' meals at fast-food restaurants.
Eating fewer calories has been shown in animal experiments to boost longevity. The Okinawans do this naturally: They eat until they are about 80 percent full, and after 20 or 30 minutes, their stomachs have adjusted to the smaller meal.
Still, the diet may be the toughest part for Westerners to swallow: It makes the US government's Food Pyramid look almost indulgent. To advocates of the Okinawan diet, the food pyramid allows too much red meat and doesn't emphasize vegetables and fruits enough.
Here's a visual formula for the Okinawan diet: Think of the plate as a pie chart with three-fourths of it blacked in - that's the right proportion of vegetables at each meal. The one-fourth remaining - that's for animal products.
For Americans, the biggest benefits of adopting a healthy diet and avoiding illness appears to be better health in their 70s and 80s, rather than an increase in 100-year-olds, according to Perls, the Beth Israel Deaconess gerontologist. His study of New England centenarians showed that good genes were increasingly important in the oldest decades. In other words, he said, ''to get that last 15 or 20 years, you need genetic booster rockets.''
Now, Perls is planning to collaborate with Willcox and his colleagues to combine findings of the Okinawan and New England projects.
If Americans could adopt some of the Okinawan practices, such as a healthier diet, along with stopping smoking, taking up strength training, and reducing obesity, he said, ''The benefits would be huge in terms of the health of our society.''
Richard Saltus, Globe Staff
May 22, 2001
longevity
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Living Well to 100
Health Care Reform Slideshow
Find out why the number of centenarians is on the rise.
By John Cutter
WebMD Feature
Is a person "old" at age 67? Yes, according to a survey of American adults earlier this year made by AARP, the nation's largest advocacy group for older persons.
But what if the typical senior still had 30 years of good physical and mental health left at that age?
For a small but growing number of people, that question is more than hypothetical. The number of centenarians -- people who are 100 years or older -- in the United States has grown 60% since 1990, to about 61,000 people, and will continue to increase in coming decades, according to the Census Bureau. In another 10 years, the number will more than double to over 130,000 people, and it's expected to double yet again to 274,000 in 2025.
Illness Not Always Typical
"Research on centenarians is challenging myths about aging, such as that the older you get, the sicker you have to be," says Thomas Perls, MD, a geriatrician and director of the New England Centenarian Study at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Perls and others who are studying the lives of centenarians have found that many have avoided the common chronic illnesses and diseases associated with old age, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease.
"Many were relatively healthy well into their 90s. About 15 percent live independently, and about 30 percent are cognitively intact, with the rest displaying a range of mild to severe cognitive impairments," says Perls.
Although centenarians are extraordinary examples of how one can live a long, healthy life, says Perls, "we believe that the vast number of people have genes that will allow them to live to at least 85 years old. People who take appropriate preventive steps may enjoy as many as 10 additional quality years."
The New England Centenarian Study -- which includes more than 200 people in and around the Boston area -- is the subject of a recent book by Perls and two colleagues, "Living to 100: Lessons in Living to Your Maximum Potential at Any Age."
Better Health Habits
Besides their ability to resist disease -- perhaps due to good genes -- centenarians tend to have good health habits. Leonard W. Poon, PhD, director of the Georgia Centenarian Study at the University of Georgia in Athens, says his center's studies show centenarians remained active throughout their lives and smoked, drank, and ate less than other people.
"The nature versus nurture question will be debated for a long time," says Poon, a professor of psychology and director of the university's gerontology center in Athens, Ga. "Yes, there are many centenarians who come from long-lived families; however, there are many centenarians who do not. I believe the answer is that genetics could be important for some but not for others."
The ability to cope with the stress of daily life might also contribute to a longer, healthier life, says Margery Hutter Silver, EdD, a geriatric neuropsychologist and part of the New England Centenarian Study. Centenarians, she says, "were better at handling stress and managing their emotions. They didn't dwell on things that caused stress in their lives."
Intellectual Challenges
The centenarians in her study also appeared to stay intellectually engaged in life as they aged. That might mean anything from simply doing the crossword puzzle to writing articles for academic journals, she says.
Lynn Peters Adler, a lawyer and director of the National Centenarian Awareness Project in Phoenix, has interviewed hundreds of centenarians and their families. She's learned, she says, that centenarians have "a remarkable ability to renegotiate life at every turn, to accept the changes and losses that come with age, and not let it stop them. Centenarians are not quitters!"
Perls is skeptical of "quick fixes" promising an easy route to longevity, such as the untested but much-touted "anti-aging" formulas popular now. He and others say that exercising, strength training, eating a healthy diet, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, learning to manage stress, using your brain, and maintaining links with people are all things people can do to improve their chances of a longer life.
"Many people think life stops after 60," says Perls. "I'd maintain that if you do things right, you could be adding 20 or 25 years of life when you have a good chance of being in good health."
Living Well to 100
Health Care Reform Slideshow
Find out why the number of centenarians is on the rise.
By John Cutter
WebMD Feature
Is a person "old" at age 67? Yes, according to a survey of American adults earlier this year made by AARP, the nation's largest advocacy group for older persons.
But what if the typical senior still had 30 years of good physical and mental health left at that age?
For a small but growing number of people, that question is more than hypothetical. The number of centenarians -- people who are 100 years or older -- in the United States has grown 60% since 1990, to about 61,000 people, and will continue to increase in coming decades, according to the Census Bureau. In another 10 years, the number will more than double to over 130,000 people, and it's expected to double yet again to 274,000 in 2025.
Illness Not Always Typical
"Research on centenarians is challenging myths about aging, such as that the older you get, the sicker you have to be," says Thomas Perls, MD, a geriatrician and director of the New England Centenarian Study at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Perls and others who are studying the lives of centenarians have found that many have avoided the common chronic illnesses and diseases associated with old age, such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease.
"Many were relatively healthy well into their 90s. About 15 percent live independently, and about 30 percent are cognitively intact, with the rest displaying a range of mild to severe cognitive impairments," says Perls.
Although centenarians are extraordinary examples of how one can live a long, healthy life, says Perls, "we believe that the vast number of people have genes that will allow them to live to at least 85 years old. People who take appropriate preventive steps may enjoy as many as 10 additional quality years."
The New England Centenarian Study -- which includes more than 200 people in and around the Boston area -- is the subject of a recent book by Perls and two colleagues, "Living to 100: Lessons in Living to Your Maximum Potential at Any Age."
Better Health Habits
Besides their ability to resist disease -- perhaps due to good genes -- centenarians tend to have good health habits. Leonard W. Poon, PhD, director of the Georgia Centenarian Study at the University of Georgia in Athens, says his center's studies show centenarians remained active throughout their lives and smoked, drank, and ate less than other people.
"The nature versus nurture question will be debated for a long time," says Poon, a professor of psychology and director of the university's gerontology center in Athens, Ga. "Yes, there are many centenarians who come from long-lived families; however, there are many centenarians who do not. I believe the answer is that genetics could be important for some but not for others."
The ability to cope with the stress of daily life might also contribute to a longer, healthier life, says Margery Hutter Silver, EdD, a geriatric neuropsychologist and part of the New England Centenarian Study. Centenarians, she says, "were better at handling stress and managing their emotions. They didn't dwell on things that caused stress in their lives."
Intellectual Challenges
The centenarians in her study also appeared to stay intellectually engaged in life as they aged. That might mean anything from simply doing the crossword puzzle to writing articles for academic journals, she says.
Lynn Peters Adler, a lawyer and director of the National Centenarian Awareness Project in Phoenix, has interviewed hundreds of centenarians and their families. She's learned, she says, that centenarians have "a remarkable ability to renegotiate life at every turn, to accept the changes and losses that come with age, and not let it stop them. Centenarians are not quitters!"
Perls is skeptical of "quick fixes" promising an easy route to longevity, such as the untested but much-touted "anti-aging" formulas popular now. He and others say that exercising, strength training, eating a healthy diet, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking, learning to manage stress, using your brain, and maintaining links with people are all things people can do to improve their chances of a longer life.
"Many people think life stops after 60," says Perls. "I'd maintain that if you do things right, you could be adding 20 or 25 years of life when you have a good chance of being in good health."
Porque as mulheres vivem mais do que os homens ?
Why Women Live Longer than Men
By William J. Cromie
Gazette Staff
Studying people who live 100 years and more leads Harvard researchers to conclude that menopause is a major determinant of the life spans of both women and men.
Women's life span depends on the balance of two forces, according to Thomas Perls, a geriatrician at Harvard Medical School. One is the evolutionary drive to pass on her genes, the other is the need to stay healthy enough to rear as many children as possible. "Menopause draws the line between the two," Perls says. It protects older women from the risks of bearing children late in life, and lets them live long enough to take care of their children and grandchildren.
As for men, Perls believes "their purpose is simply to carry genes that ensure longevity and pass them on to their daughters. Thus, female longevity becomes the force that determines the natural life span of both men and women."
"Most animals do not undergo menopause," adds Ruth Fretts, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "It seems that menopause evolved in part as a response to the amount of time that the young remain dependent on adults to ensure their survival."
Pilot whales, for example, suckle their young until age 14, and they, along with humans, are two of the few species that menstruate.
Human females eventually become so frail that bearing children involves a high risk of death. Earlier in evolution, that was as young as 35 to 40 years old. "Anyone who developed a genetic alteration that caused infertility, i.e., menopause, obtained a survival advantage over females who continued to be fertile and died bearing children," Perls says.
The Gender Gap
This reasoning, however, does not explain why women live so much longer than men. "In all developed countries and most undeveloped ones, women outlive men, sometimes by a margin of 10 years," Perls and Fretts note. "In the U.S., average life expectancy at birth is about 79 years for women and about 72 years for men."
The gender gap is most pronounced in those who live 100 years or more. Among centenarians worldwide, women outnumber males nine to one. Perls and Fretts are studying all centenarians from eight cities and towns around Boston, 100 people in all. Eighty-five are women.
The mortality gap varies during other stages of life. Between ages 15 and 24 years, men are four to five times more likely to die than women. This time frame coincides with the onset of puberty and an increase in reckless and violent behavior in males. Researchers refer to it as a "testosterone storm." Most deaths in this male group come from motor vehicle accidents, followed by homicide, suicide, cancer, and drownings.
After age 24, the difference between male and female mortality narrows until late middle age. In the 55- to 64-year-old range, more men than women die, due mainly to heart disease, suicide, car accidents, and illnesses related to smoking and alcohol use. Heart disease kills five of every 1,000 men in this age group.
"It seems likely that women have been outliving men for centuries and perhaps longer," say Perls and Fretts. Even with the sizable risk conferred by childbirth, women have outsurvived men at least since the 1500s. Although, in the United States between 1900 and the 1930s, the death risk for women of childbearing age was as high as that for men. Since then, improved health care, particularly in childbirth, has put women ahead of men again in the survival struggle, as well as raising life expectancy for both sexes.
A longer life doesn't necessarily mean a healthier life, however. While men succumb to fatal illnesses like heart disease, stroke, and cancer, women live on with non-fatal conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and diabetes. "While men die from their diseases, women live with them," Perls comments.
One contributor to the gender difference in life span is the influence of sex hormones. The male hormone testosterone not only increases aggressive and competitive behavior in young men, it increases levels of harmful cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein), raising a male's chances of getting heart disease or stroke.
On the other hand, the female hormone estrogen lowers harmful cholesterol and raises "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein). Emerging evidence suggests estrogen treatment after menopause reduces the risk of dying from heart disease and stroke, as well as of dying in general.
Perls and Fretts believe that longer life means survival of the fittest, and women, evolutionarily speaking, are more fit than men. The longer a woman lives and the more slowly she ages, the more offspring she can produce and rear to adulthood. Therefore, evolution would naturally select the genes of such women over those who die young.
Long-lived men would also have an evolutionary advantage over their shorter-lived brethren. However, says Perls, "studies of chimps, gorillas, and other species closely related to humans suggest that a male's reproductive capacity is actually limited more by access to females than by life span. And because men have not been involved in child care as much as females, survival of a man's offspring, and thus his genes, depended not so much on how long he lived, but on how long the mother of his children lived."
In their studies of centenarians, Perls and Fretts found that a surprising number of women who lived to be 100 or more gave birth in their forties. These 100-year-old women were four times as likely to have given birth in their forties as women born in the same year who died at age 73. A study of centenarians in Europe by the Max Planck Institute of Demography in Germany found the same relationship between longevity and fecundity.
This does not mean that having a child in middle age makes a woman live longer. Rather, Perls says, "the factors that allow certain older women to bear children -- a slow rate of aging and decreased susceptibility to disease -- also improve a woman's chances of living a long time. Extending that idea, we argue that the driving force of human life span is maximizing the time during which woman can bear children. The age at which menopause eliminates the threat of female survival by ending further reproduction may therefore be the determinant of subsequent life span."
Closing the Gap
If this is true, then the genes of female centenarians hold the secrets of a longer, healthier life. And these are no ordinary genes. Whether the average person drinks, smokes, exercises, or eats her vegetables adds or subtracts five to ten years to or from her life. But to live an additional 30 years requires the kind of genes that slow down aging and reduce susceptibility to conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, heart disease, and cancer.
Clues about what those genes are and how they work could come from studying those who survive 100 years or more, Perls believes. The New England Centenarian Study he runs is the only scientific investigation of the oldest oldsters being done in the United States. He has now expanded it to include all centenarians in the city of Boston, about 100 more people.
"We think that centenarians are a tremendous resource for the discovery of genes responsible for aging and the ways in which aging occurs," says Perls. "Finding these genes could lead to testing people and determining who might be disposed to accelerated aging via diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Such individuals might eventually be treated to extend the prospect of their living longer."
The oldest person for which reliable records exist was a woman who recently died in France at the age of 123. "Reaching such an age is like winning the lottery," Perls comments. "The odds are about one in 6 billion. From a practical point of view, we can consider 100 years as the average maximum of human life. We're not there yet, of course. At present, average life expectancy for those born after 1960 is about 85 years."
Although women can expect to live longer than men, the gap is closing. Death rates have begun to converge in the past 20 years. Some researchers attribute the convergence to women taking on the behaviors and stresses formerly considered the domain of males -- smoking, drinking, and working outside the home.
For example, Perls and Fretts point out that deaths from lung cancer have almost tripled in women in the past 20 years. One study concluded that, on average, middle-aged female smokers live no longer than male smokers.
By William J. Cromie
Gazette Staff
Studying people who live 100 years and more leads Harvard researchers to conclude that menopause is a major determinant of the life spans of both women and men.
Women's life span depends on the balance of two forces, according to Thomas Perls, a geriatrician at Harvard Medical School. One is the evolutionary drive to pass on her genes, the other is the need to stay healthy enough to rear as many children as possible. "Menopause draws the line between the two," Perls says. It protects older women from the risks of bearing children late in life, and lets them live long enough to take care of their children and grandchildren.
As for men, Perls believes "their purpose is simply to carry genes that ensure longevity and pass them on to their daughters. Thus, female longevity becomes the force that determines the natural life span of both men and women."
"Most animals do not undergo menopause," adds Ruth Fretts, an obstetrician-gynecologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "It seems that menopause evolved in part as a response to the amount of time that the young remain dependent on adults to ensure their survival."
Pilot whales, for example, suckle their young until age 14, and they, along with humans, are two of the few species that menstruate.
Human females eventually become so frail that bearing children involves a high risk of death. Earlier in evolution, that was as young as 35 to 40 years old. "Anyone who developed a genetic alteration that caused infertility, i.e., menopause, obtained a survival advantage over females who continued to be fertile and died bearing children," Perls says.
The Gender Gap
This reasoning, however, does not explain why women live so much longer than men. "In all developed countries and most undeveloped ones, women outlive men, sometimes by a margin of 10 years," Perls and Fretts note. "In the U.S., average life expectancy at birth is about 79 years for women and about 72 years for men."
The gender gap is most pronounced in those who live 100 years or more. Among centenarians worldwide, women outnumber males nine to one. Perls and Fretts are studying all centenarians from eight cities and towns around Boston, 100 people in all. Eighty-five are women.
The mortality gap varies during other stages of life. Between ages 15 and 24 years, men are four to five times more likely to die than women. This time frame coincides with the onset of puberty and an increase in reckless and violent behavior in males. Researchers refer to it as a "testosterone storm." Most deaths in this male group come from motor vehicle accidents, followed by homicide, suicide, cancer, and drownings.
After age 24, the difference between male and female mortality narrows until late middle age. In the 55- to 64-year-old range, more men than women die, due mainly to heart disease, suicide, car accidents, and illnesses related to smoking and alcohol use. Heart disease kills five of every 1,000 men in this age group.
"It seems likely that women have been outliving men for centuries and perhaps longer," say Perls and Fretts. Even with the sizable risk conferred by childbirth, women have outsurvived men at least since the 1500s. Although, in the United States between 1900 and the 1930s, the death risk for women of childbearing age was as high as that for men. Since then, improved health care, particularly in childbirth, has put women ahead of men again in the survival struggle, as well as raising life expectancy for both sexes.
A longer life doesn't necessarily mean a healthier life, however. While men succumb to fatal illnesses like heart disease, stroke, and cancer, women live on with non-fatal conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis, and diabetes. "While men die from their diseases, women live with them," Perls comments.
One contributor to the gender difference in life span is the influence of sex hormones. The male hormone testosterone not only increases aggressive and competitive behavior in young men, it increases levels of harmful cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein), raising a male's chances of getting heart disease or stroke.
On the other hand, the female hormone estrogen lowers harmful cholesterol and raises "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein). Emerging evidence suggests estrogen treatment after menopause reduces the risk of dying from heart disease and stroke, as well as of dying in general.
Perls and Fretts believe that longer life means survival of the fittest, and women, evolutionarily speaking, are more fit than men. The longer a woman lives and the more slowly she ages, the more offspring she can produce and rear to adulthood. Therefore, evolution would naturally select the genes of such women over those who die young.
Long-lived men would also have an evolutionary advantage over their shorter-lived brethren. However, says Perls, "studies of chimps, gorillas, and other species closely related to humans suggest that a male's reproductive capacity is actually limited more by access to females than by life span. And because men have not been involved in child care as much as females, survival of a man's offspring, and thus his genes, depended not so much on how long he lived, but on how long the mother of his children lived."
In their studies of centenarians, Perls and Fretts found that a surprising number of women who lived to be 100 or more gave birth in their forties. These 100-year-old women were four times as likely to have given birth in their forties as women born in the same year who died at age 73. A study of centenarians in Europe by the Max Planck Institute of Demography in Germany found the same relationship between longevity and fecundity.
This does not mean that having a child in middle age makes a woman live longer. Rather, Perls says, "the factors that allow certain older women to bear children -- a slow rate of aging and decreased susceptibility to disease -- also improve a woman's chances of living a long time. Extending that idea, we argue that the driving force of human life span is maximizing the time during which woman can bear children. The age at which menopause eliminates the threat of female survival by ending further reproduction may therefore be the determinant of subsequent life span."
Closing the Gap
If this is true, then the genes of female centenarians hold the secrets of a longer, healthier life. And these are no ordinary genes. Whether the average person drinks, smokes, exercises, or eats her vegetables adds or subtracts five to ten years to or from her life. But to live an additional 30 years requires the kind of genes that slow down aging and reduce susceptibility to conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, stroke, heart disease, and cancer.
Clues about what those genes are and how they work could come from studying those who survive 100 years or more, Perls believes. The New England Centenarian Study he runs is the only scientific investigation of the oldest oldsters being done in the United States. He has now expanded it to include all centenarians in the city of Boston, about 100 more people.
"We think that centenarians are a tremendous resource for the discovery of genes responsible for aging and the ways in which aging occurs," says Perls. "Finding these genes could lead to testing people and determining who might be disposed to accelerated aging via diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Such individuals might eventually be treated to extend the prospect of their living longer."
The oldest person for which reliable records exist was a woman who recently died in France at the age of 123. "Reaching such an age is like winning the lottery," Perls comments. "The odds are about one in 6 billion. From a practical point of view, we can consider 100 years as the average maximum of human life. We're not there yet, of course. At present, average life expectancy for those born after 1960 is about 85 years."
Although women can expect to live longer than men, the gap is closing. Death rates have begun to converge in the past 20 years. Some researchers attribute the convergence to women taking on the behaviors and stresses formerly considered the domain of males -- smoking, drinking, and working outside the home.
For example, Perls and Fretts point out that deaths from lung cancer have almost tripled in women in the past 20 years. One study concluded that, on average, middle-aged female smokers live no longer than male smokers.
longevity
Fountain of Youth Bubbles in Brains of the Oldest Old
By Cassie Ferguson
Death and taxes are still certain, but according to a Medical School study, the mental infirmities of old age are not.
Neuropsychological examinations and autopsies of people who live past 100 show that they can live to the end with sound minds, report the researchers in the upcoming issue of International Psychogeriatrics.
"It has been common thinking that dementia's inevitable with old age. That isn't so. We're studying centenarians whose thinking is perfectly clear. And their brain autopsies confirm what we see," said Margery Silver, associate director of the New England Centenarian Study and clinical instructor in psychology at the Medical School.
"I marvel at these brains. Some could pass for individuals 20 or 30 years younger," said Kathy Newell, a clinical fellow in neuropathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Many were basically healthy looking brains with a nice size, normal weight, and little or no evidence of atrophy."
Silver and her colleagues at the Centenarian Study tested the cognitive function of 69 centenarians, finding that although the hyper-aged frequently have some degree of dementia, 20 percent have survived the years in perfect mental health.
Guessing that the brains of centenarians might mirror the results of the neuropsychological tests, they asked pathologists from Massachusetts General Hospital to take a post-mortem look at the condition of study subjects who had willed their brains to science.
The autopsies revealed that half had resisted the onslaught of tiny strokes as well as fatty plaques and proteins thought to choke blood vessels and strangle brain cells as brains age, possibly causing Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Of the six examinations reported in the paper, none was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Since the brains of the centenarians can be unexpectedly free from the physical proof of old age, Silver suggested that dementia sometimes attributed to people who have reached at least 100 might be misattributed and even reversible.
"There are lots of treatable causes for dementia. Doctors may be missing something that's curable. The dementia might be caused by something like depression, medication for heart disease, or B-12 deficiency," she said.
This is good news for the projected 500,000 to 4 million people, who'll be blowing out at least 100 birthday candles in the middle of the next century.
The Old Genes vs. Environment
How people preserve both mental and physical health past their 70s and 80s -- which weeds out the majority of the population -- has been pinned alternately on genetics and the environment. As it turns out, said Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study and an instructor at the Medical School, "aging is a complex mix of genes and environment."
On the genetics side, a group in Japan recently reported in the British medical journal Lancet that more than half of the centenarians they studied carry an otherwise rare DNA sequence for three genes found in the cellular power-generating plants known as mitochondria. Although scientists still are not sure of the role those sequences play, they may provide a survival advantage. One possibility is that the unusual bit of DNA might cause the mitochondria to generate energy more efficiently, which might then lower the production of oxygen radicals thought to be tied to aging.
Centenarians may possess other preservative genes that somehow ward off detrimental environmental effects like ultraviolet radiation, said Perls. In earlier work also conducted in collaboration with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, nonagenarians and centenarians were found to have a much lower frequency of a gene called apolipoiprotein E4, which has been associated with an increased risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.
Seeking further evidence for a genetic explanation for longevity, Perls is currently searching through the DNA of centenarian sibling pairs for clues.
If genes aren't entirely responsible for centenarians escaping or at least markedly delaying killers like Alzheimer's, strokes, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease, they can credit their survival to lifestyle.
Most centenarians live a life of moderation -- avoiding cigarettes and excessive amounts of alcohol -- and eating well.
They stay active; walking, dancing, and, reportedly, even driving. But the real key to their longevity may be hidden inside their heads, not their bodies, said Silver, who marvels at working with people many decades older than she.
"They deal with stress well, bouncing back from tragic events that would devastate other people," she said, noting that these are people who have survived two World Wars and the deaths of many people around them.
In addition to keeping up their spirits, centenarians stay mentally healthy by exercising their minds. Ellen Bubrick, a research assistant at the Centenarian Study, said that the healthiest oldsters she's met stay active through diversions like reading, writing, and painting.
Whether sustained by their DNA, their environment, or their good luck, those headed for Methuselian maturity appear to age more slowly than most.
Last September, Perls found that centenarian women were more likely to have had children until their 40's, an age when most women are approaching menopause. The study, reported in the journal Nature, implies that people who make it to age 100 live according to an adjusted life span that's been stretched a few decades beyond average.
"Our observation is that the whole aging process is slowed down," said Silver. "These people act and look much younger than you would expect."
By Cassie Ferguson
Death and taxes are still certain, but according to a Medical School study, the mental infirmities of old age are not.
Neuropsychological examinations and autopsies of people who live past 100 show that they can live to the end with sound minds, report the researchers in the upcoming issue of International Psychogeriatrics.
"It has been common thinking that dementia's inevitable with old age. That isn't so. We're studying centenarians whose thinking is perfectly clear. And their brain autopsies confirm what we see," said Margery Silver, associate director of the New England Centenarian Study and clinical instructor in psychology at the Medical School.
"I marvel at these brains. Some could pass for individuals 20 or 30 years younger," said Kathy Newell, a clinical fellow in neuropathology at Massachusetts General Hospital. "Many were basically healthy looking brains with a nice size, normal weight, and little or no evidence of atrophy."
Silver and her colleagues at the Centenarian Study tested the cognitive function of 69 centenarians, finding that although the hyper-aged frequently have some degree of dementia, 20 percent have survived the years in perfect mental health.
Guessing that the brains of centenarians might mirror the results of the neuropsychological tests, they asked pathologists from Massachusetts General Hospital to take a post-mortem look at the condition of study subjects who had willed their brains to science.
The autopsies revealed that half had resisted the onslaught of tiny strokes as well as fatty plaques and proteins thought to choke blood vessels and strangle brain cells as brains age, possibly causing Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Of the six examinations reported in the paper, none was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
Since the brains of the centenarians can be unexpectedly free from the physical proof of old age, Silver suggested that dementia sometimes attributed to people who have reached at least 100 might be misattributed and even reversible.
"There are lots of treatable causes for dementia. Doctors may be missing something that's curable. The dementia might be caused by something like depression, medication for heart disease, or B-12 deficiency," she said.
This is good news for the projected 500,000 to 4 million people, who'll be blowing out at least 100 birthday candles in the middle of the next century.
The Old Genes vs. Environment
How people preserve both mental and physical health past their 70s and 80s -- which weeds out the majority of the population -- has been pinned alternately on genetics and the environment. As it turns out, said Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study and an instructor at the Medical School, "aging is a complex mix of genes and environment."
On the genetics side, a group in Japan recently reported in the British medical journal Lancet that more than half of the centenarians they studied carry an otherwise rare DNA sequence for three genes found in the cellular power-generating plants known as mitochondria. Although scientists still are not sure of the role those sequences play, they may provide a survival advantage. One possibility is that the unusual bit of DNA might cause the mitochondria to generate energy more efficiently, which might then lower the production of oxygen radicals thought to be tied to aging.
Centenarians may possess other preservative genes that somehow ward off detrimental environmental effects like ultraviolet radiation, said Perls. In earlier work also conducted in collaboration with researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital, nonagenarians and centenarians were found to have a much lower frequency of a gene called apolipoiprotein E4, which has been associated with an increased risk for developing Alzheimer's disease.
Seeking further evidence for a genetic explanation for longevity, Perls is currently searching through the DNA of centenarian sibling pairs for clues.
If genes aren't entirely responsible for centenarians escaping or at least markedly delaying killers like Alzheimer's, strokes, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease, they can credit their survival to lifestyle.
Most centenarians live a life of moderation -- avoiding cigarettes and excessive amounts of alcohol -- and eating well.
They stay active; walking, dancing, and, reportedly, even driving. But the real key to their longevity may be hidden inside their heads, not their bodies, said Silver, who marvels at working with people many decades older than she.
"They deal with stress well, bouncing back from tragic events that would devastate other people," she said, noting that these are people who have survived two World Wars and the deaths of many people around them.
In addition to keeping up their spirits, centenarians stay mentally healthy by exercising their minds. Ellen Bubrick, a research assistant at the Centenarian Study, said that the healthiest oldsters she's met stay active through diversions like reading, writing, and painting.
Whether sustained by their DNA, their environment, or their good luck, those headed for Methuselian maturity appear to age more slowly than most.
Last September, Perls found that centenarian women were more likely to have had children until their 40's, an age when most women are approaching menopause. The study, reported in the journal Nature, implies that people who make it to age 100 live according to an adjusted life span that's been stretched a few decades beyond average.
"Our observation is that the whole aging process is slowed down," said Silver. "These people act and look much younger than you would expect."
longevity
Tips for Living a Longer Life
By BrianX | July 20th, 2006
Humankind has been trying to live for increasingly longer periods of time since the early struggles for survival thousands of years ago. On a primal level, we try to live longer on a daily basis by simply avoiding direct harm. Obviously living longer entails more than that. Once our basic needs of shelter, safety food, love and belonging are met, there is the constant push to the next level: The extension of our life spans. Is there something we can do to live longer? Will our genetic make-up kills us off before our time?
Centenarians Live Longer Lives
In the year 1900, the life expectancy was 47.3 years meaning that the average person was expected to die at quite an early age by today’s standards. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2002 that number had risen to 77.3 years.
People who live to be 100 and beyond are called centenarians. The number of centenarians is increasing yearly and there is currently 1 centenarian for every 10,000 people in industrialized countries.
Do Women or Men Live Longer?
While it is well-documented that women live a few years longer than men (on average), medical science has yet to find distinct reasons behind this trend. The mixed and plentiful ideas are beyond the scope of this article. However, it is worth noting that the average age of dying for men is catching up to that of women’s.
If we eliminated the major diseases that are killing us “before our time” such as cancer, our life spans would only increase by about 10 years. That just doesn’t seem like a lot. Don’t get me wrong, there are serious diseases out there and just looking at the age of death ignores the suffering of those dying off. However, the point is that living for an extra decade or so isn’t such a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
The Pitfalls of Living Longer
It’s peculiar that we are so caught up in trying to live longer that we don’t take into account what we would or wouldn’t have to look forward to. Personally, I’d love to see what happens with the space program and I’m sure everyone reading this article has their ideas of what they would want to experience in their own extended lifespan.
Perhaps living longer lives is not that great an option. For one thing, the age of retirement would probably increase. If government pensions dry up, many people will be living in poverty that much longer. Also, just because you’re still alive at 95, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’d be fully healthy at that age. You would likely still need special care at least some of the time.
Tips for a Longer Life
There are currently a few centenarian studies going on around the world, all which are trying to find the secrets to successful aging. As more people are living longer lives, it’s becoming easier to study these unique individuals.
Two popular projects include the New England Centenarian Study and the Okinawa Centenarian Study in Japan. The studies have yielded some interesting findings. Remember that these are general findings and variations do exist.
People who live to be 100…
Tend to be healthier to begin with, meaning that as you get older, you aren’t getting sicker, you just keep on living with more of the same level of general health.
Come from a range of backgrounds. The number of years spent in school, how rich or poor they are, or what they eat (from fatty food-aholics to vegetarians) are not important factors.
Are lean and fit. Few overweight people live to be 100.
Don’t smoke.
Are good at handling stress. Centenarians may have gone through difficult times just like everyone else but they seem to be able to let go, adapt, and move on more easily.
Report being less tense and higher in self-confidence, as well having optimistic attitudes and an easy-going approach to life.
Have longevity in their genes meaning that family members are more likely to live longer as well.
Still have normal thinking abilities and do not suffer from degradation brought about by illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Of course, these results have tremendous implications. The obvious ones are the stopping smoking and losing weight could help increase your life but what about the indirect consequences? For example, would you go to a therapist to de-stress, knowing that it could help you live longer?
Why the Elderly are Ignored
Our species is dependent on procreation. On the whole, we grow up, have kids, get old and pass on, paving the way for the next generation to do the same. So when the idea of living decades beyond the time of raising children and work arises, what happens then?
While some cultures respect the oldest members of their society as being able to offer wisdom and support, many people growing up in first world countries, especially a “melting-pot” type of country such as the US, tend to leave the older generations out.
I’m sure there are many reasons but I’ll touch on what I think is one of the most significant. I believe that you must look at it from a technological perspective. Our lives are being overtaken by technology. That technology is rapidly expanding and branching off into new parts of our lives. The younger generations embrace the changes while older generations are slow to catch on. After all, only a younger generation can really keep abreast of the constant changes and even then it’s overwhelming.
The older people get, the less they can keep up and offer advice to the young. If this still isn’t clear, think of the opposite side. Many cultures living as tribes in isolated regions of the planet would be lost without the elder members to pass on tradition and guide them. Do you think your grandparents can teach you how to use a computer program or discuss the latest reality TV show?
While it seems that the faster the society, the less there is a need for the elderly, I’d say that as our society speeds up, the less there is a perceived need for them. As long as they are able to retain their faculties, they probably have a lot to offer by way of advice, story-telling, passing on family history, and what-not.
In The End
In the end, we are all going to die anyways, right?! Remember that for everything good, there is an equal and opposite bad thing. A longer life does not necessarily equate with a richer, more fulfilling one but fighting off the grim reaper that much longer does sound tempting, doesn’t it?
“Live long and prosper” says Spock. I think the Vulcans on Star Trek had the right idea. As a side note, isn’t it interesting that medical science and not religion is finding ways to live longer? But I digress.
By BrianX | July 20th, 2006
Humankind has been trying to live for increasingly longer periods of time since the early struggles for survival thousands of years ago. On a primal level, we try to live longer on a daily basis by simply avoiding direct harm. Obviously living longer entails more than that. Once our basic needs of shelter, safety food, love and belonging are met, there is the constant push to the next level: The extension of our life spans. Is there something we can do to live longer? Will our genetic make-up kills us off before our time?
Centenarians Live Longer Lives
In the year 1900, the life expectancy was 47.3 years meaning that the average person was expected to die at quite an early age by today’s standards. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2002 that number had risen to 77.3 years.
People who live to be 100 and beyond are called centenarians. The number of centenarians is increasing yearly and there is currently 1 centenarian for every 10,000 people in industrialized countries.
Do Women or Men Live Longer?
While it is well-documented that women live a few years longer than men (on average), medical science has yet to find distinct reasons behind this trend. The mixed and plentiful ideas are beyond the scope of this article. However, it is worth noting that the average age of dying for men is catching up to that of women’s.
If we eliminated the major diseases that are killing us “before our time” such as cancer, our life spans would only increase by about 10 years. That just doesn’t seem like a lot. Don’t get me wrong, there are serious diseases out there and just looking at the age of death ignores the suffering of those dying off. However, the point is that living for an extra decade or so isn’t such a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
The Pitfalls of Living Longer
It’s peculiar that we are so caught up in trying to live longer that we don’t take into account what we would or wouldn’t have to look forward to. Personally, I’d love to see what happens with the space program and I’m sure everyone reading this article has their ideas of what they would want to experience in their own extended lifespan.
Perhaps living longer lives is not that great an option. For one thing, the age of retirement would probably increase. If government pensions dry up, many people will be living in poverty that much longer. Also, just because you’re still alive at 95, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’d be fully healthy at that age. You would likely still need special care at least some of the time.
Tips for a Longer Life
There are currently a few centenarian studies going on around the world, all which are trying to find the secrets to successful aging. As more people are living longer lives, it’s becoming easier to study these unique individuals.
Two popular projects include the New England Centenarian Study and the Okinawa Centenarian Study in Japan. The studies have yielded some interesting findings. Remember that these are general findings and variations do exist.
People who live to be 100…
Tend to be healthier to begin with, meaning that as you get older, you aren’t getting sicker, you just keep on living with more of the same level of general health.
Come from a range of backgrounds. The number of years spent in school, how rich or poor they are, or what they eat (from fatty food-aholics to vegetarians) are not important factors.
Are lean and fit. Few overweight people live to be 100.
Don’t smoke.
Are good at handling stress. Centenarians may have gone through difficult times just like everyone else but they seem to be able to let go, adapt, and move on more easily.
Report being less tense and higher in self-confidence, as well having optimistic attitudes and an easy-going approach to life.
Have longevity in their genes meaning that family members are more likely to live longer as well.
Still have normal thinking abilities and do not suffer from degradation brought about by illnesses such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Of course, these results have tremendous implications. The obvious ones are the stopping smoking and losing weight could help increase your life but what about the indirect consequences? For example, would you go to a therapist to de-stress, knowing that it could help you live longer?
Why the Elderly are Ignored
Our species is dependent on procreation. On the whole, we grow up, have kids, get old and pass on, paving the way for the next generation to do the same. So when the idea of living decades beyond the time of raising children and work arises, what happens then?
While some cultures respect the oldest members of their society as being able to offer wisdom and support, many people growing up in first world countries, especially a “melting-pot” type of country such as the US, tend to leave the older generations out.
I’m sure there are many reasons but I’ll touch on what I think is one of the most significant. I believe that you must look at it from a technological perspective. Our lives are being overtaken by technology. That technology is rapidly expanding and branching off into new parts of our lives. The younger generations embrace the changes while older generations are slow to catch on. After all, only a younger generation can really keep abreast of the constant changes and even then it’s overwhelming.
The older people get, the less they can keep up and offer advice to the young. If this still isn’t clear, think of the opposite side. Many cultures living as tribes in isolated regions of the planet would be lost without the elder members to pass on tradition and guide them. Do you think your grandparents can teach you how to use a computer program or discuss the latest reality TV show?
While it seems that the faster the society, the less there is a need for the elderly, I’d say that as our society speeds up, the less there is a perceived need for them. As long as they are able to retain their faculties, they probably have a lot to offer by way of advice, story-telling, passing on family history, and what-not.
In The End
In the end, we are all going to die anyways, right?! Remember that for everything good, there is an equal and opposite bad thing. A longer life does not necessarily equate with a richer, more fulfilling one but fighting off the grim reaper that much longer does sound tempting, doesn’t it?
“Live long and prosper” says Spock. I think the Vulcans on Star Trek had the right idea. As a side note, isn’t it interesting that medical science and not religion is finding ways to live longer? But I digress.
Longevidade (em inglês)
Across the industrialized world, women still live 5 to 10 years longer than men. Among people over 100 years old, 85% are women, according to Tom Perls, founder of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University and creator of the website LivingTo100.com. Time.com asks him why.
Q: Why do women live longer than men?
A: One important reason is the big delay — and advantage — women have over men in terms of cardiovascular disease, like heart attack and stroke. Women develop these problems usually in their 70s and 80s, about 10 years later than men, who develop them in their 50s and 60s. For a long time, doctors thought the difference was due to estrogen. But studies have shown that this may not be the case, and now we know that giving estrogen to women post-menopause can actually be bad for them.
One reason for that delay in onset of cardiovascular disease could be that women are relatively iron-deficient compared to men — especially younger women, those in their late teens and early 20s — because of menstruation. Iron plays a very important part in the reactions in our cells that produce damaging free radicals, which glom onto cell membranes and DNA, and may translate into aging the cell. In fact, in our diets, red meat is the main source of iron, and lack of iron is probably one major reason that being vegetarian is healthy for you. There was a very good study looking at the intake of red meat and heart disease in Leiden in the Netherlands: in regions where people didn't eat red meat, those populations had half the rate of heart attack and stroke compared to the populations that did eat red meat.
Another more complicated possibility [for women's longevity] is that women have two X chromosomes, while men have one. (Men have an X and a Y.) When cells go through aging and damage, they have a choice in terms of genes — either on one X chromosome or the other. Consider it this way: you have a population of cells, all aging together. In some cells, the genes on one X chromosome are active; in other cells, by chance, the same set of genes, with different variations, are active on the other X chromosome. Don't forget, we all have the same genes — the reason we differ is because we express different variations of those genes, like different colors of a car. Now, if one set of variations provides a survival advantage for the cells versus another, then the cells with the advantage will persist while the other ones will die off, leaving behind more cells with the genes on the more advantageous X chromosome. So, in women, cells can perhaps be protected by a slightly better variation of a gene on the second X chromosome. Men don't have this luxury and don't get this choice.
It's very unclear [how big an effect that could have]. I've seen men who have done horrendous damage to themselves over time with smoking and drinking and who still get to 100 and older — though that's very, very rare. They might have the right combination of some really special genetic variations that we call "longevity enabling genes" — which we're on the mad hunt for. Meanwhile other individuals may do everything right and only make it into their 80s. That may be because they have what we call "disease genes," some genetic variations that are relatively bad for them. Now some of these [disease genes] may be on the X chromosome, [meaning that women who have the second X chromosome with which to compensate, would have an advantage]. But it's really still a very complicated puzzle to tease out.
[There are a few other reasons that men die earlier in life more often than women.] Men in their late teens and 20s go through something called "testosterone storm." The levels of the hormone can be quite high and changeable, and that can induce some pretty dangerous behavior among young men. They don't wear their seatbelts; they drink too much alcohol; they can be aggressive with weapons and so on and so forth. These behaviors lead to a higher death rate.
Another area where we see higher death rates among men is among the depressed — especially older men. If they attempt suicide, they are more likely to succeed than women.
Overall, about 70% of the variation around average life expectancy — [just over 80 for women and just over 75 for men in the U.S.] — is probably attributable to environmental factors — your behaviors and your exposures. Probably only 30% is due to genetics. And that's very, very good news. There's so much we can do. Most of us should be able to get into our late 80s. What's more, to get to older ages, like the centenarians, you are necessarily compressing the time you're sick to the end of your life. It's not a case where the older you get, the sicker you get. It's very much the case that the older you get, the healthier you've been.
But, in general, there are maybe three things men do worse than women. They smoke a lot more. (That gender gap is fortunately shrinking, since men are smoking less and less.) They eat more food that leads to high cholesterol. And, perhaps related to that, men tend not to deal with their stress as well as women. They may be more prone to internalizing that stress rather than letting go — though that's a fairly controversial point. Nonetheless, stress plays a very important role in cardiovascular disease.
Q: Why do women live longer than men?
A: One important reason is the big delay — and advantage — women have over men in terms of cardiovascular disease, like heart attack and stroke. Women develop these problems usually in their 70s and 80s, about 10 years later than men, who develop them in their 50s and 60s. For a long time, doctors thought the difference was due to estrogen. But studies have shown that this may not be the case, and now we know that giving estrogen to women post-menopause can actually be bad for them.
One reason for that delay in onset of cardiovascular disease could be that women are relatively iron-deficient compared to men — especially younger women, those in their late teens and early 20s — because of menstruation. Iron plays a very important part in the reactions in our cells that produce damaging free radicals, which glom onto cell membranes and DNA, and may translate into aging the cell. In fact, in our diets, red meat is the main source of iron, and lack of iron is probably one major reason that being vegetarian is healthy for you. There was a very good study looking at the intake of red meat and heart disease in Leiden in the Netherlands: in regions where people didn't eat red meat, those populations had half the rate of heart attack and stroke compared to the populations that did eat red meat.
Another more complicated possibility [for women's longevity] is that women have two X chromosomes, while men have one. (Men have an X and a Y.) When cells go through aging and damage, they have a choice in terms of genes — either on one X chromosome or the other. Consider it this way: you have a population of cells, all aging together. In some cells, the genes on one X chromosome are active; in other cells, by chance, the same set of genes, with different variations, are active on the other X chromosome. Don't forget, we all have the same genes — the reason we differ is because we express different variations of those genes, like different colors of a car. Now, if one set of variations provides a survival advantage for the cells versus another, then the cells with the advantage will persist while the other ones will die off, leaving behind more cells with the genes on the more advantageous X chromosome. So, in women, cells can perhaps be protected by a slightly better variation of a gene on the second X chromosome. Men don't have this luxury and don't get this choice.
It's very unclear [how big an effect that could have]. I've seen men who have done horrendous damage to themselves over time with smoking and drinking and who still get to 100 and older — though that's very, very rare. They might have the right combination of some really special genetic variations that we call "longevity enabling genes" — which we're on the mad hunt for. Meanwhile other individuals may do everything right and only make it into their 80s. That may be because they have what we call "disease genes," some genetic variations that are relatively bad for them. Now some of these [disease genes] may be on the X chromosome, [meaning that women who have the second X chromosome with which to compensate, would have an advantage]. But it's really still a very complicated puzzle to tease out.
[There are a few other reasons that men die earlier in life more often than women.] Men in their late teens and 20s go through something called "testosterone storm." The levels of the hormone can be quite high and changeable, and that can induce some pretty dangerous behavior among young men. They don't wear their seatbelts; they drink too much alcohol; they can be aggressive with weapons and so on and so forth. These behaviors lead to a higher death rate.
Another area where we see higher death rates among men is among the depressed — especially older men. If they attempt suicide, they are more likely to succeed than women.
Overall, about 70% of the variation around average life expectancy — [just over 80 for women and just over 75 for men in the U.S.] — is probably attributable to environmental factors — your behaviors and your exposures. Probably only 30% is due to genetics. And that's very, very good news. There's so much we can do. Most of us should be able to get into our late 80s. What's more, to get to older ages, like the centenarians, you are necessarily compressing the time you're sick to the end of your life. It's not a case where the older you get, the sicker you get. It's very much the case that the older you get, the healthier you've been.
But, in general, there are maybe three things men do worse than women. They smoke a lot more. (That gender gap is fortunately shrinking, since men are smoking less and less.) They eat more food that leads to high cholesterol. And, perhaps related to that, men tend not to deal with their stress as well as women. They may be more prone to internalizing that stress rather than letting go — though that's a fairly controversial point. Nonetheless, stress plays a very important role in cardiovascular disease.
Estudo de longevidade
Elisabete Fernandes Almeida é escritora e editora médica, com especialização pela Universidade de Harvard, EUA, em projetos de Educação Médica Continuada, tanto para médicos como para a população em geral.
A sua formação médica inclui Saúde Física, Saúde Mental e Nutrição. Além disso, Elisabete trabalha com renomados profissionais da área de Nutrição, Medicina Esportiva, Fisioterapia e Psicologia, que lhe dão assessoria na parte editorial.
Elisabete é presidente da Latin-Med Editora Médica, editora médica da Conexão Médica, diretora do departamento de Educação Médica para Leigos da Associação Paulista de Medicina e atua em vários sites médicos, como e-Medicine, Lincx e Harvard Medical Review.
De acordo com o The New England Centenarian Study, realizado pela Harvard Medical School, das 50.000 pessoas que celebraram 100 anos de vida nos Estados Unidos, apenas 10% são homens. Eles podem ser mais fortes e magros, mas em termos de longevidade, os homens vivem cerca de seis anos a menos do que as mulheres.
No futuro haverá um maior número de centenários e, com as medidas adequadas, os homens podem ser melhor representados nesse grupo. É óbvio que uma dieta saudável e a prática de exercícios ajudam os homens a manter a saúde e viver mais, mas aqui vão algumas sugestões que podem ser tão interessantes quanto fibras e malhação.
* Olhe o lado bom das coisas – Os otimistas vivem mais de acordo com um estudo da Mayo Clinic. Entre os 839 entrevistados, os mais felizes mostraram um risco de morte 19% menor do que os outros. O índice de sobrevida dos pessimistas esteve bem abaixo da expectativa para a faixa etária. Ter uma atitude positiva não contribui apenas para prolongar a vida, mas também para manter o indivíduo ativo e independente.
Um trabalho publicado no Journal of American Geriatrics Society, escrito por investigadores da University of Texas, afirma que os pacientes otimistas têm metade da probabilidade de apresentar dificuldades em realizar atividades diárias dois anos mais tarde. Pesquisas anteriores mostram que a felicidade e o otimismo aumentam o número e a função das células imunológicas do organismo. Isso melhora a capacidade de prevenção e aumenta a capacidade de combater doenças.
* Não se preocupe com os pequenos problemas – No The New England Centenarian Study, um achado comum entre os 46 pacientes com mais de 100 anos foi a habilidade de administrar o estresse. Eles deixam as coisas acontecerem. Nós também podemos aprender como fazer isso.
Há várias maneiras de lidar com o estresse, como a prática de exercícios, meditação ou a realização de atividades que trazem prazer.
* Pratique mais sexo – É isso mesmo. Um estudo realizado durante 10 anos e publicado no British Medical Journal aponta que homens que praticam sexo menos do que uma vez por mês têm uma taxa de mortalidade duas vezes maior do que aqueles que mantêm mais de duas relações sexuais por semana. Não consegue marcar um encontro? Não se preocupe. O que conta é o número de orgasmos, e para isso, não é necessário quebrar as pernas da cama. De acordo com o trabalho de Davey Smith, professor da University of Bristol, na Inglaterra, a morte por doença coronariana mostrou associação com a freqüência de orgasmos. Um estudo anterior sobre o envelhecimento, realizado pela Duke University, também mostrou que a atividade sexual reduz o risco de morte entre os homens. São boas notícias para todos, mas lembre-se de praticar sexo seguro. Acredite ou não, até mesmo indivíduos de 70 anos de idade podem contrair doenças sexualmente transmissíveis.
* Saia mais – Os médicos da Harvard University encontraram evidências de que as atividades sociais melhoram a qualidade e a quantidade de vida, de acordo com um trabalho publicado no British Medical Journal. Um número cada vez maior de estudos mostra que as relações sociais favorecem a saúde dos indivíduos. Nós somos programados para sermos animais sociais.
Dados do National Health Institute demonstram a influência da vida social sobre a longevida, mostrando que quanto maior a atividade social da pessoa, menor a probabilidade de tabagismo e maior a chance de ter uma alimentação adequada, praticar exercícios regularmente e procurar o médico para consultas de rotina. O estudo também sugere que os contatos sociais podem ser uma fonte de suporte e oportunidades para conversar sobre comportamentos saudáveis, conseguir apoio e estímulo.
* Valorize o casamento – Estar casado pode proporcionar anos adicionais de vida. Homens casados têm menor índice de mortalidade do que os solteiros, de acordo com um estudo conduzido durante 22 anos pelo RAND Center for Aging.
As vantagens incluem um melhor cuidado com a saúde durante as doenças, melhor alimentação e um ambiente domiciliar que contribui para a redução do estresse, incentivando comportamentos saudáveis e eliminando maus hábitos, como o fumo e a ingestão excessiva de álcool.
Parece que os homens casados dependem mais das mulheres do que apenas na hora da refeição. Os homens tendem a concentrar toda a sua vida social em suas mulheres. Por esse motivo, casam novamente ou morrem após ficarem viúvos.
A saúde dos divorciados também é prejudicada.
Aos 50 anos, espera-se que homens divorciados tenham uma deterioração da saúde muito mais rápida do que aqueles que são casados. Mas ainda há uma esperança. Segundo esse mesmo estudo, um novo casamento traz benefícios diretos para homens nessa faixa etária, e a sua saúde pode voltar a ser igual a de quando era casado.
* Use fio dental – Você não se livrará apenas daquele pedaço de comida no dente, mas também estará protegendo o seu coração. Pesquisadores americanos descobriram que pessoas com doenças periodontais têm quase duas vezes mais chance de sofrer de doenças coronarianas do que aquelas sem essas condições.
Estudos mostram que doenças da gengiva podem estimular o desenvolvimento de obstrução arterial e coágulos sangüíneos com a entrada de bactérias orais para a circulação sangüínea. Além disso, sabe-se que podem exacerbar doenças cardíacas existentes.
Os sintomas dessas doenças da gengiva incluem o sangramento gengival durante a escovação, gengivas avermelhadas, inchadas ou dolorosas, afastamento entre as gengivas e os dentes, mau hálito persistente, presença de pus entre os dentes e a gengiva, perda ou separação dos dentes e uma mudança na forma como seus dentes se ajustam quando você morde.
* Doe sangue – Ao mesmo tempo em que ajuda alguém, você pode estar salvando a própria vida. Para os homens, ajudar a aumentar o estoque dos bancos de sangue também pode ser uma boa forma de se livrar do excesso de ferro, que talvez esteja relacionado a doenças cardíacas. As pessoas acham que o ferro é bom, mas na verdade ele é um antioxidante. Em excesso, é prejudicial.
Estudos realizados na University of Kuopio, na Finlândia, na University of Minnesota Medical School e no University of Kansas Medical Center mostram que a doação regular de sangue pode reduzir o risco de doenças cardíacas em homens. Os pesquisadores atribuem esse fato à redução na quantidade de ferro armazenado no organismo.
Tendo em vista que os íons de ferro são essenciais à formação dos radicais de oxigênio, uma menor quantidade de ferro poderia levar à redução da velocidade do envelhecimento, doenças cardiovasculares e outras condições relacionadas à idade, nas quais os radicais do oxigênio desempenham um papel importante, de acordo com Dr. Thomas T. Perls, diretor do New England Centenarian Study.
Isso poderia explicar porque mulheres na pré-menopausa têm menor incidência de arteriosclerose (endurecimento das artérias) e sofrem apenas metade dos ataques cardíacos e mortes por doenças cardíacas que acometem os homens da mesma idade.
* Faça palavras cruzadas – Da mesma forma que o corpo, o cérebro precisa se exercitar. A longevidade está diretamente correlacionada com o grau de escolaridade e o envolvimento com atividades intelectuais da pessoa, segundo estudos sobre envelhecimento realizados pela Duke University.
O ponto principal é continuar aprendendo. Toda vez que você aprende coisas novas, fortalece e cria novas conexões entre as células do cérebro. Posteriormente, se você perder algumas células, o funcionamento global não será afetado. O estudo compara esse fenômeno com uma cidade que tem acesso apenas por uma estrada. Se alguma coisa acontecer a essa estrada, pode ocorrer um grande desastre. Mas se houver 10 estradas, a cidade pode continuar funcionando.
* Pense com a cabeça, e não com os hormônios – O mesmo hormônio que faz crescer pêlo no seu peito pode levá-lo a colocar a vida em risco. Estudos comprovam que, entre os 15 e 24 anos de idade, quando os níveis de testosterona estão mais elevados, um comportamento irrefreável e violento também é mais comum. Os homens morrem mais do que as mulheres em todas as faixas etárias, mas o índice de mortalidade é três vezes maior nesse grupo. A principal causa de morte em homens entre 14 e 24 anos de idade são os acidentes de trânsito, seguidos de homicídios e suicídios.
Essa correlação entre a adolescência e um comportamento de risco elevado também tem sido demonstrada em estudos com outros primatas, muitos dos quais desaparecem do seu grupo nesse período.
* Vá ao médico– Eu sei, eu sei; se não está quebrado, não conserte. No entanto, em se tratando da sua vida pessoal, vale a pena tomar medidas preventivas. O National Institute on Aging recomenda a realização de exames de rotina regularmente. Dessa forma, você pode descobrir os problemas mais cedo e tratá-los antes que eles ponham a sua vida em risco. Você não pode pensar que, se nada está errado com você, não é necessário procurar o médico ou, se algo está errado, é só porque você está ficando velho. Muitos problemas que são atribuídos apenas ao envelhecimento podem ser tratados.
Não há nenhum remédio ou gene mágico que levará você até o segundo século de vida.
Você tem que agir!
O seu futuro só depende de você!
A sua formação médica inclui Saúde Física, Saúde Mental e Nutrição. Além disso, Elisabete trabalha com renomados profissionais da área de Nutrição, Medicina Esportiva, Fisioterapia e Psicologia, que lhe dão assessoria na parte editorial.
Elisabete é presidente da Latin-Med Editora Médica, editora médica da Conexão Médica, diretora do departamento de Educação Médica para Leigos da Associação Paulista de Medicina e atua em vários sites médicos, como e-Medicine, Lincx e Harvard Medical Review.
De acordo com o The New England Centenarian Study, realizado pela Harvard Medical School, das 50.000 pessoas que celebraram 100 anos de vida nos Estados Unidos, apenas 10% são homens. Eles podem ser mais fortes e magros, mas em termos de longevidade, os homens vivem cerca de seis anos a menos do que as mulheres.
No futuro haverá um maior número de centenários e, com as medidas adequadas, os homens podem ser melhor representados nesse grupo. É óbvio que uma dieta saudável e a prática de exercícios ajudam os homens a manter a saúde e viver mais, mas aqui vão algumas sugestões que podem ser tão interessantes quanto fibras e malhação.
* Olhe o lado bom das coisas – Os otimistas vivem mais de acordo com um estudo da Mayo Clinic. Entre os 839 entrevistados, os mais felizes mostraram um risco de morte 19% menor do que os outros. O índice de sobrevida dos pessimistas esteve bem abaixo da expectativa para a faixa etária. Ter uma atitude positiva não contribui apenas para prolongar a vida, mas também para manter o indivíduo ativo e independente.
Um trabalho publicado no Journal of American Geriatrics Society, escrito por investigadores da University of Texas, afirma que os pacientes otimistas têm metade da probabilidade de apresentar dificuldades em realizar atividades diárias dois anos mais tarde. Pesquisas anteriores mostram que a felicidade e o otimismo aumentam o número e a função das células imunológicas do organismo. Isso melhora a capacidade de prevenção e aumenta a capacidade de combater doenças.
* Não se preocupe com os pequenos problemas – No The New England Centenarian Study, um achado comum entre os 46 pacientes com mais de 100 anos foi a habilidade de administrar o estresse. Eles deixam as coisas acontecerem. Nós também podemos aprender como fazer isso.
Há várias maneiras de lidar com o estresse, como a prática de exercícios, meditação ou a realização de atividades que trazem prazer.
* Pratique mais sexo – É isso mesmo. Um estudo realizado durante 10 anos e publicado no British Medical Journal aponta que homens que praticam sexo menos do que uma vez por mês têm uma taxa de mortalidade duas vezes maior do que aqueles que mantêm mais de duas relações sexuais por semana. Não consegue marcar um encontro? Não se preocupe. O que conta é o número de orgasmos, e para isso, não é necessário quebrar as pernas da cama. De acordo com o trabalho de Davey Smith, professor da University of Bristol, na Inglaterra, a morte por doença coronariana mostrou associação com a freqüência de orgasmos. Um estudo anterior sobre o envelhecimento, realizado pela Duke University, também mostrou que a atividade sexual reduz o risco de morte entre os homens. São boas notícias para todos, mas lembre-se de praticar sexo seguro. Acredite ou não, até mesmo indivíduos de 70 anos de idade podem contrair doenças sexualmente transmissíveis.
* Saia mais – Os médicos da Harvard University encontraram evidências de que as atividades sociais melhoram a qualidade e a quantidade de vida, de acordo com um trabalho publicado no British Medical Journal. Um número cada vez maior de estudos mostra que as relações sociais favorecem a saúde dos indivíduos. Nós somos programados para sermos animais sociais.
Dados do National Health Institute demonstram a influência da vida social sobre a longevida, mostrando que quanto maior a atividade social da pessoa, menor a probabilidade de tabagismo e maior a chance de ter uma alimentação adequada, praticar exercícios regularmente e procurar o médico para consultas de rotina. O estudo também sugere que os contatos sociais podem ser uma fonte de suporte e oportunidades para conversar sobre comportamentos saudáveis, conseguir apoio e estímulo.
* Valorize o casamento – Estar casado pode proporcionar anos adicionais de vida. Homens casados têm menor índice de mortalidade do que os solteiros, de acordo com um estudo conduzido durante 22 anos pelo RAND Center for Aging.
As vantagens incluem um melhor cuidado com a saúde durante as doenças, melhor alimentação e um ambiente domiciliar que contribui para a redução do estresse, incentivando comportamentos saudáveis e eliminando maus hábitos, como o fumo e a ingestão excessiva de álcool.
Parece que os homens casados dependem mais das mulheres do que apenas na hora da refeição. Os homens tendem a concentrar toda a sua vida social em suas mulheres. Por esse motivo, casam novamente ou morrem após ficarem viúvos.
A saúde dos divorciados também é prejudicada.
Aos 50 anos, espera-se que homens divorciados tenham uma deterioração da saúde muito mais rápida do que aqueles que são casados. Mas ainda há uma esperança. Segundo esse mesmo estudo, um novo casamento traz benefícios diretos para homens nessa faixa etária, e a sua saúde pode voltar a ser igual a de quando era casado.
* Use fio dental – Você não se livrará apenas daquele pedaço de comida no dente, mas também estará protegendo o seu coração. Pesquisadores americanos descobriram que pessoas com doenças periodontais têm quase duas vezes mais chance de sofrer de doenças coronarianas do que aquelas sem essas condições.
Estudos mostram que doenças da gengiva podem estimular o desenvolvimento de obstrução arterial e coágulos sangüíneos com a entrada de bactérias orais para a circulação sangüínea. Além disso, sabe-se que podem exacerbar doenças cardíacas existentes.
Os sintomas dessas doenças da gengiva incluem o sangramento gengival durante a escovação, gengivas avermelhadas, inchadas ou dolorosas, afastamento entre as gengivas e os dentes, mau hálito persistente, presença de pus entre os dentes e a gengiva, perda ou separação dos dentes e uma mudança na forma como seus dentes se ajustam quando você morde.
* Doe sangue – Ao mesmo tempo em que ajuda alguém, você pode estar salvando a própria vida. Para os homens, ajudar a aumentar o estoque dos bancos de sangue também pode ser uma boa forma de se livrar do excesso de ferro, que talvez esteja relacionado a doenças cardíacas. As pessoas acham que o ferro é bom, mas na verdade ele é um antioxidante. Em excesso, é prejudicial.
Estudos realizados na University of Kuopio, na Finlândia, na University of Minnesota Medical School e no University of Kansas Medical Center mostram que a doação regular de sangue pode reduzir o risco de doenças cardíacas em homens. Os pesquisadores atribuem esse fato à redução na quantidade de ferro armazenado no organismo.
Tendo em vista que os íons de ferro são essenciais à formação dos radicais de oxigênio, uma menor quantidade de ferro poderia levar à redução da velocidade do envelhecimento, doenças cardiovasculares e outras condições relacionadas à idade, nas quais os radicais do oxigênio desempenham um papel importante, de acordo com Dr. Thomas T. Perls, diretor do New England Centenarian Study.
Isso poderia explicar porque mulheres na pré-menopausa têm menor incidência de arteriosclerose (endurecimento das artérias) e sofrem apenas metade dos ataques cardíacos e mortes por doenças cardíacas que acometem os homens da mesma idade.
* Faça palavras cruzadas – Da mesma forma que o corpo, o cérebro precisa se exercitar. A longevidade está diretamente correlacionada com o grau de escolaridade e o envolvimento com atividades intelectuais da pessoa, segundo estudos sobre envelhecimento realizados pela Duke University.
O ponto principal é continuar aprendendo. Toda vez que você aprende coisas novas, fortalece e cria novas conexões entre as células do cérebro. Posteriormente, se você perder algumas células, o funcionamento global não será afetado. O estudo compara esse fenômeno com uma cidade que tem acesso apenas por uma estrada. Se alguma coisa acontecer a essa estrada, pode ocorrer um grande desastre. Mas se houver 10 estradas, a cidade pode continuar funcionando.
* Pense com a cabeça, e não com os hormônios – O mesmo hormônio que faz crescer pêlo no seu peito pode levá-lo a colocar a vida em risco. Estudos comprovam que, entre os 15 e 24 anos de idade, quando os níveis de testosterona estão mais elevados, um comportamento irrefreável e violento também é mais comum. Os homens morrem mais do que as mulheres em todas as faixas etárias, mas o índice de mortalidade é três vezes maior nesse grupo. A principal causa de morte em homens entre 14 e 24 anos de idade são os acidentes de trânsito, seguidos de homicídios e suicídios.
Essa correlação entre a adolescência e um comportamento de risco elevado também tem sido demonstrada em estudos com outros primatas, muitos dos quais desaparecem do seu grupo nesse período.
* Vá ao médico– Eu sei, eu sei; se não está quebrado, não conserte. No entanto, em se tratando da sua vida pessoal, vale a pena tomar medidas preventivas. O National Institute on Aging recomenda a realização de exames de rotina regularmente. Dessa forma, você pode descobrir os problemas mais cedo e tratá-los antes que eles ponham a sua vida em risco. Você não pode pensar que, se nada está errado com você, não é necessário procurar o médico ou, se algo está errado, é só porque você está ficando velho. Muitos problemas que são atribuídos apenas ao envelhecimento podem ser tratados.
Não há nenhum remédio ou gene mágico que levará você até o segundo século de vida.
Você tem que agir!
O seu futuro só depende de você!
Descontração, um dos segredos da longevidade
24 de junho de 2009
Por Giovana Pastore
Thomas Perls (Crédito: Arquivo Pessoal)
VEJA TAMBÉM
Calculadora da vida: Questionário desenvolvido pelo Dr. Perls estima quantos anos se viverá (em inglês)
Em profundidade: Aprenda a viver mais e melhor
Em VEJA de 7/2/2007: As pessoas que passam mais tempo em sala de aula vivem mais
REVISTAS ABRILMAIS INFORMAÇÕES
Há 14 anos, Thomas Perls, professor e pesquisador da Universidade de Boston (EUA), estuda pessoas longevas, um dos segmentos da população que mais cresce no mundo - especialmente em nações desenvolvidas. O estudo mais recente do geriatra, que comanda o New England Centenarian Study, identificou características comuns aos filhos de centenários: eles são mais extrovertidos e menos neuróticos do que a média da população, sabem lidar melhor com o stress e são menos solitários e deprimidos. O objetivo era entender o efeito que a personalidade de uma pessoa exerce sobre a duração de sua vida. Perls falou a VEJA.com sobre suas descobertas.
Por que analisar as características dos filhos das pessoas que ultrapassaram a barreira dos cem anos, e não os centenários em si?
Apenas 20% dos centenários são inteiramente lúcidos. Os demais apresentam deficiências, principalmente de memória, de intensidades variadas. Isso não significa que não seja maravilhoso ser um centenário, já que é comprovado que a maioria deles só sofre de males ligados ao envelhecimento, como as doenças cardiovasculares, os acidentes vasculares cerebrais e a diabetes, depois dos 95 anos. Mas, em relação às faculdades mentais, seus filhos, que têm entre setenta e oitenta e poucos anos, são mais plenos. Além disso, sabemos que os descendentes de centenários seguem os passos de seus pais no que diz respeito a envelhecer lentamente - as chances de eles sofrerem de doenças relacionadas à idade são até 60% menores, se comparadas às de pessoas nascidas na mesma época.
Quais foram os resultados do estudo?
A principal constatação, que nos deixou surpresos, é o quanto os filhos de centenários são diferentes da população em geral. Com base na análise da personalidade de 250 deles, de diferentes famílias, descobrimos que eles são muito mais extrovertidos e apresentam comportamentos muito menos neuróticos do que os indivíduos em geral.
Na prática, o que isso significa?
Em relação à extroversão, significa que eles têm mais facilidade para estabelecer relacionamentos importantes e saudáveis, que os estimulam intelectualmente e os tornam menos sozinhos e deprimidos - os centenários e seus filhos tendem a ser muito sociáveis e divertidos e costumam ter muitas pessoas ao redor. No que diz respeito ao comportamento neurótico, significa que eles lidam bem com situações de stress, que são capazes de superá-las com facilidade. E o stress é tido como um dos importantes fatores de aceleração do envelhecimento, sendo associado a doenças do coração, à pressão alta e aos derrames.
Há diferença entre homens e mulheres?
Normalmente, os homens e as mulheres têm personalidades bem diferentes. Mas, no caso estudado, eles se mostraram surpreendentemente semelhantes. Exceto para amabilidade, quesito no qual as mulheres obtiveram uma pontuação um pouco mais alta, os resultados para os dois gêneros foram bem parecidos. Isso pode sugerir que os homens que vivem mais tendem a ser mais parecidos com as mulheres, em termos de personalidade.
Além da personalidade, que outros fatores são determinantes para uma pessoa viver até os cem anos?
Cerca de 80% da nossa capacidade de viver até perto dos 90 anos - dez anos a mais do que a expectativa média de vida nos EUA e no Canadá - está relacionada a hábitos saudáveis. Pessoas que fumam, comem muita carne vermelha, são obesas, sedentárias ou não administram bem situações de stress morrem aproximadamente dez anos mais jovens do que aquelas que levam uma vida saudável. Mas aquelas que vivem mais do que 90 anos, além de manter hábitos saudáveis, têm, na maioria das vezes, um retrospecto de longevidade excepcional na família.
Uma pessoa é capaz de ajustar sua personalidade para viver mais?
Eu não saberia dizer. Mas acho que se pode aprender muito a partir das características dos filhos de pessoas longevas, de forma a compensarmos predisposições negativas. É o caso de aprender a lidar melhor com situações de stress. O importante não é exatamente a quantidade de stress que você tem na sua vida, mas, sim, como você o administra. Praticar exercícios físicos, meditar, fazer ioga, rezar, estar com a família e até mesmo saber quando parar e respirar fundo podem ajudar muito a minimizar o impacto do stress para a saúde.
Como surgiu a ideia para o estudo?
Assim que começamos a estudar os centenários, em 1994, notamos que eles eram pessoas com uma extraordinária habilidade de lidar com situações estressantes. Desde então, tentamos entender o porquê disso. Os testes de personalidade que aplicamos nos filhos dos centenários, cujos resultados publicamos na revista da Sociedade Americana de Geriatria, são parte desse esforço.
24 de junho de 2009
Por Giovana Pastore
Thomas Perls (Crédito: Arquivo Pessoal)
VEJA TAMBÉM
Calculadora da vida: Questionário desenvolvido pelo Dr. Perls estima quantos anos se viverá (em inglês)
Em profundidade: Aprenda a viver mais e melhor
Em VEJA de 7/2/2007: As pessoas que passam mais tempo em sala de aula vivem mais
REVISTAS ABRILMAIS INFORMAÇÕES
Há 14 anos, Thomas Perls, professor e pesquisador da Universidade de Boston (EUA), estuda pessoas longevas, um dos segmentos da população que mais cresce no mundo - especialmente em nações desenvolvidas. O estudo mais recente do geriatra, que comanda o New England Centenarian Study, identificou características comuns aos filhos de centenários: eles são mais extrovertidos e menos neuróticos do que a média da população, sabem lidar melhor com o stress e são menos solitários e deprimidos. O objetivo era entender o efeito que a personalidade de uma pessoa exerce sobre a duração de sua vida. Perls falou a VEJA.com sobre suas descobertas.
Por que analisar as características dos filhos das pessoas que ultrapassaram a barreira dos cem anos, e não os centenários em si?
Apenas 20% dos centenários são inteiramente lúcidos. Os demais apresentam deficiências, principalmente de memória, de intensidades variadas. Isso não significa que não seja maravilhoso ser um centenário, já que é comprovado que a maioria deles só sofre de males ligados ao envelhecimento, como as doenças cardiovasculares, os acidentes vasculares cerebrais e a diabetes, depois dos 95 anos. Mas, em relação às faculdades mentais, seus filhos, que têm entre setenta e oitenta e poucos anos, são mais plenos. Além disso, sabemos que os descendentes de centenários seguem os passos de seus pais no que diz respeito a envelhecer lentamente - as chances de eles sofrerem de doenças relacionadas à idade são até 60% menores, se comparadas às de pessoas nascidas na mesma época.
Quais foram os resultados do estudo?
A principal constatação, que nos deixou surpresos, é o quanto os filhos de centenários são diferentes da população em geral. Com base na análise da personalidade de 250 deles, de diferentes famílias, descobrimos que eles são muito mais extrovertidos e apresentam comportamentos muito menos neuróticos do que os indivíduos em geral.
Na prática, o que isso significa?
Em relação à extroversão, significa que eles têm mais facilidade para estabelecer relacionamentos importantes e saudáveis, que os estimulam intelectualmente e os tornam menos sozinhos e deprimidos - os centenários e seus filhos tendem a ser muito sociáveis e divertidos e costumam ter muitas pessoas ao redor. No que diz respeito ao comportamento neurótico, significa que eles lidam bem com situações de stress, que são capazes de superá-las com facilidade. E o stress é tido como um dos importantes fatores de aceleração do envelhecimento, sendo associado a doenças do coração, à pressão alta e aos derrames.
Há diferença entre homens e mulheres?
Normalmente, os homens e as mulheres têm personalidades bem diferentes. Mas, no caso estudado, eles se mostraram surpreendentemente semelhantes. Exceto para amabilidade, quesito no qual as mulheres obtiveram uma pontuação um pouco mais alta, os resultados para os dois gêneros foram bem parecidos. Isso pode sugerir que os homens que vivem mais tendem a ser mais parecidos com as mulheres, em termos de personalidade.
Além da personalidade, que outros fatores são determinantes para uma pessoa viver até os cem anos?
Cerca de 80% da nossa capacidade de viver até perto dos 90 anos - dez anos a mais do que a expectativa média de vida nos EUA e no Canadá - está relacionada a hábitos saudáveis. Pessoas que fumam, comem muita carne vermelha, são obesas, sedentárias ou não administram bem situações de stress morrem aproximadamente dez anos mais jovens do que aquelas que levam uma vida saudável. Mas aquelas que vivem mais do que 90 anos, além de manter hábitos saudáveis, têm, na maioria das vezes, um retrospecto de longevidade excepcional na família.
Uma pessoa é capaz de ajustar sua personalidade para viver mais?
Eu não saberia dizer. Mas acho que se pode aprender muito a partir das características dos filhos de pessoas longevas, de forma a compensarmos predisposições negativas. É o caso de aprender a lidar melhor com situações de stress. O importante não é exatamente a quantidade de stress que você tem na sua vida, mas, sim, como você o administra. Praticar exercícios físicos, meditar, fazer ioga, rezar, estar com a família e até mesmo saber quando parar e respirar fundo podem ajudar muito a minimizar o impacto do stress para a saúde.
Como surgiu a ideia para o estudo?
Assim que começamos a estudar os centenários, em 1994, notamos que eles eram pessoas com uma extraordinária habilidade de lidar com situações estressantes. Desde então, tentamos entender o porquê disso. Os testes de personalidade que aplicamos nos filhos dos centenários, cujos resultados publicamos na revista da Sociedade Americana de Geriatria, são parte desse esforço.
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