Want to enjoy a long, healthy and happy life? Just live like a centenary.
This is the Council of Staisi Andersen, behavioral neurobiologists at the University of Boston and co-director of the centenary study of New England, the largest study of the centuries and their families in the world.
The study, which registered more than 3,000 hundred-year-olds in their 30-year history, studied genetic factors, the choice of lifestyle and environmental influences, which, apparently, play a role in the durability of people who live up to 100 and older. The hope is that when studying the hundredths, researchers can find treatment methods, as well as identify the habits and environmental factors that can help everyone live healthier longer.
“Our goal is not to force everyone to live up to 100 years. We are trying to understand: how do you live at any age – within 70, 80s or 90s – in very good health? ” Andersen says.
It turns out that centuries do not smoke on average, do not feed on a diverse diet, are social and, as a rule, do not sweat small things. As a rule, they spend more years of their life in good health, known as “Healthspan”. According to Andersen, they also have a sense of goal, and they can find joy in everyday days, even at their twilight.
Within the framework of the series “Time” that interviews leaders in the field of longevity, we talked with Andersen about her work with the centuries -olds and that we can all find out well about aging.
This interview was condensed and edited for clarity.
You are managing a certificate of new England. What is it?
The study was started in 1995 by Dr. Thomas Perls [a Boston University geriatrician]The field when Dr. Perls was a researcher, conducting training in geriatrics, he was appointed two patients over 100 years old who lived in the pension community. He was always taught that the older you become, especially since you are becoming, so he expected that patients would be limited by their rooms and would be his most sick patients, but this was not so. To that, to his surprise, they were two of his most healthy and most active patients. They gave concerts of the piano community. They were there, doing something. He wondered if there were two patients only two remarkable emissions or something else in people who reach these extreme ages – 100 and older. So, he began a studio study of New England. He has this name, because it initially began in eight cities around Boston, but over the years we have enrolled people throughout the United States, Canada and other countries.
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To date, we have registered more than 3,000 hundred -year -olds, as well as many of their brothers and sisters and descendants. Our senior participant died at the age of 119. Her daughter lived until 101.
What we saw in our centuries is that the older you become, the more healthy you were, because on average the centuries were significantly postponed or avoided by many chronic age -related diseases. Thus, in addition to many additional years of life, they also have very long health conditions. And I think this is what most of us want.
What data do you collect from the participants in the study?
The first thing we do is get a blood sample. We look at many different blood factors that could tell us about how people aging a healthy way. We look at genetics, but then we go beyond genes and look at other data about Amika [which refers to the study of biological molecules like DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites]The field is also collecting a sample of a chair so that we can understand how bacteria in the intestines can contribute to healthy aging, and we send the participants to pre -configured tablets with a sensory screen through which we can take many cognitive function tests. We also check their blood pressure and measure them The strength of the clutchField
Then we spend them every year. We want to see what diseases they develop after their meeting. Can they still take a certain distance? Can they control their medicines on their own over time? We are really trying to understand their aging of the trajectory.
For one of our studies, we will focus on what we call “cognitive supergraulists” [those who maintain cognitive function similar to people who are 30 years younger]The field for this study we ask people to subscribe to our brain donation program so that we can look at their brain tissue after they pass and determine whether there is a protein accumulation associated with Alzheimer's disease or pubic dementia. For some of our centuries, we saw a real gap. They functioned very well in their everyday life, but then we look at their brain tissue, and they have a significant accumulation of amyloid and tau [proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease]A field from these cases we can learn a lot about sustainability. We are still trying to understand how this separation occurs. How do they support such a good cognitive function when they have evidence of Alzheimer's disease in their brain?
How great is the role of genetics playing in the longevity of centennies?
For the vast majority of us, genetics is only about 25% [of longevity]And the rest is connected with the behavior in relation to the health that we follow. Do you support healthy weight? Do you eat a nutrient diet? Do you get moderate activity every day? These are things that can help everyone live 10 years longer.
There is a much larger genetic component for hundred -year -olds. Genetics is about 75% of what makes you really extreme age, for example, 105 and older. Over the years, we learned that in fact these are not one or two genes that lead people to these extreme ages, but more like 200 genetic options.
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We also always assumed that our centennials would not have options for genes and that they should be enriched for protective factors, but it turns out that, with several exceptions, they have the majority of the same genes of the disease. This even more says that they are enriched with protective factors, and this is what we are trying to learn more about, because it can help everyone. If we can understand these biological mechanisms, we theoretically could come up with therapeutic remedies that will help the population as a whole.
Like longevity tablets?
Well, we saw that the centennials have a healthier immune profile. We saw that they have the best DNA reparation, and their cells seem to react to stress in a different way. We are trying to delve into these mechanisms, and they can be transferred to a tablet that can repeat the same effects.
Are there any environmental factors and habits of lifestyle, which, in the visible, contribute to the durability of the hundredths?
Yes, genetics is not all. Environmental factors are a majority that we are now trying to plunge into more. We look at things such as sleep and entertaining networks, social networks, how long people have worked and why they retired, how long people have been driving and why they stopped driving a car. We want to understand that the continuation of the performance of rich actions during your life plays a role in achieving the age of 100 years.
There are many hundred -year research around the world, and each of them occupies different lenses for longevity, but I would say that in all studies it seems that the centuries have a very good psychological well -being. They tend to clog a low level of neuroticism. They are not too worried about the bad things that happen. They can deal with them and move on. They also gain high grades in extraversion. They are ready to try new things. They, as a rule, are very sociable, which, I think, helps them establish new social ties when their peers leave. They do things and meet new people, and this helps their social networks. It also helps to preserve their brain.
Read more: Your brain reveals a lot about your age
Another majority is that, it seems, there is a sense of a goal in life – so wake up in the morning with what you want to do. I think this is a little surprising to hear about people at the age of 100 years; You might think that they are just sitting without doing anything, but in fact it is not. They still have things that they want to achieve. Maybe they do not plan 10 years, but they still find joy in life.
As a rule, our centuries say that they never followed a specific diet, and they did not go to the gym, but they remained busy, and they were careful not to overeat, and they ate a wide range of products.
How about smoking and alcohol?
Smoking is very rare among our centennies. From time to time you will see in the media a 105-year-old woman who smokes a glass per day, but this is a needle in a haystack.
From the point of view of alcohol, this varies. Basically, they do not drink excessively, but some of our centuries have a glass of wine per day or a picture of what they like every day. There is great variability in various behaviors on the health of our centuries. They do not do everything.
Does the floor play a role?
About 85% of our centuries -olds are women. But interesting, men who live up to 100 have a tendency to be healthier. Women survive better with chronic diseases. Men, although they have much less reach 100 years, usually have a very good physical and cognitive function. Men, as a rule, are what we call “outputs”, where they avoid the disease until after 100 years.
I do not think that we still know why this difference is, but this is the area that we continue to look at, and this is the reason why sexual differences are considered even among the hundred -year -olds is really important.
Has the work with centuries have changed the way to think about aging?
This gave me a very positive view of aging. Most of the people whom I know say that they do not want to age or are afraid of aging, and we hear from our centuries, it is that they were also afraid of aging, but then they reached 100 years old, and they found that they really liked it.
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I think that to see people at the age of 100 years who enjoy life and do what they want to do, and who still love training, really opens their eyes. Herberries also simply have so much wisdom, and actually talking with one is really a gift.
What is next for the century?
Our study showed that the centennials reach their extreme age, because on average they are very healthy. And now we are trying to delve into the biological mechanisms that underlie this, as well as the behavior in relation to health and environmental factors that can help them so well.
I think that the most interesting part of our work is now concentrated in public who really advocate the aging tendency and are simply aging superstar – the Sunser who still take a bicycle of three miles per day or still work or who are cognitive superpresses. We are trying to find out everything that we can, about how they managed to do it.
In addition, we are always looking for new participants. If you know an amazing one-year life anywhere in the United States, which can be prepared to help with your studies itself, the centuries-Call 888-333-6327, [email protected], or e-mail, or Visit our training siteField
This article is part of the time of longevity, an editorial platform devoted to the study of how and why people live longer and what it means for individuals, institutions and future society. For other articles on this topic, Click hereField
