Category: Uncategorized

Secret no.7 Work less overtime

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Women in Okinawa, Japan, live longer than just about anywhere else in Japan – on average to 87 (and, come on, that’s quite a long way to 100).

Their secret, suggests at least one report, is work-life balance. Women are more likely to be in the workforce than the Japanese average but work fewer overtime hours. How does that play out in longevity? No, I’m not sure either. The report suggests that partners have more time to raise a family and that seems a vaguely plausible reason for the study’s other main finding – that Okinawan women have more children. But longer life? Hmmm.

Plausibility rating: 3 out of 10. Fewer overtime hours by itself seems an unlikely major cause for a longer life. But there are other reasons not to work to hard as the famous quotation, variously attributed to US author Larry Kushner or politician Paul Tsongas, reminds us: ‘No one ever said on their deathbed ‘I wish I’d spent more time at the office’.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/24/national/social-issues/women-okinawa-japans-best-recipe-liberty-fertility-longevity/#.VYvwfvlVhBc

Secret no.6 Good food

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Actually, this way to live to 100 is a bit of cheat.

Ruby Byford – better known as Peggy – celebrated her 103rd birthday on 23rd June 2015 in the Colchester care home where she has lived for the past couple of years. According to local media reports Peggy still enjoys walks in the garden. Her family also says she ‘eats for England’ and until recently she had a glass of sherry every day, with champagne at celebrations.

And these comments have, with a little journalistic licence, become the possible secrets for her longevity in the local newspaper report. Peggy appears never to have said them or to have claimed them as the keys to her long life.

So just as reasonably it could have said that a strong family was the key: Ruby has two children, five grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Or an active working life: Ruby and her late husband Edward ran a small bakery and she worked in a pharmacy after the death of Edward 40 years ago.

Feasibility: n/a. Ruby herself doesn’t seem to have attributed her long life to any one factor, which may be very wise of her. If she had, eating well would certainly be a factor in longevity (assuming ‘well’ doesn’t mean ‘too much’) and there is variable evidence about the importance of a small amount of alcohol. Good walks could certainly help. But without Peggy’s blessing, we’ll let this one slide.

http://eadt.co.uk/1.4123844

Secret no.5 Sleep

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5582704539_0e7a834910_bSusannah Mushatt Jones is due to celebrate her 116th birthday on July 6th 2015 – she is officially the world’s oldest person. Her secret, she told the New York Daily News, is sleep. Susannah even offered the reporter a demonstration, laying back in her recliner and pulling a blanket over her head as if for an afternoon nap.

Susannah – known as ‘Miss Susie’ – has sight and hearing problems but is still active and takes just two medications a day.

Though she never married and has no children, Susannah has a remarkable 100 nieces and nephews, to whom she is known simply as T (‘auntie’).

She is a fan of Barack Obama and the New York Daily News suggested that a phone call from the President would make her birthday.

Plausibility rating: 6 out of 10. Susannah’s faith in the longevity powers of sleep is quite well placed. Studies often shown a link between low levels of sleep and incidence of major, life-threatening illnesses such as diabetes, obesity and heart disease. ‘It’s now clear that a solid night’s sleep is essential for a long and healthy life,’ says NHS Choices. The Daily Mirror neatly reported a 2010 study – suggesting a 12% increased risk of death if you get less than six hours sleep – with the headline ‘Not enough sleep leads to a wake’.

However, that study also suggested a link between too much sleep (nine hours or more) and an even higher risk of premature death so it is possible to get too much of a good thing.
photo credit: Sleep via photopin (license)

Secret no.4a God again

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(Note to readers: the subject of faith doesn’t get the attention it deserves here. I cover it in more detail in this post).

This is becoming a bit of a theme.

Maryland resident Robert Cox says he didn’t expect to reach 100 but, now that he has, he credits God and says that he feels like he has a ‘pretty long way to go yet’.

Robert has been living in an assisted living facility since 2012. He uses a walker and has hearing problems but his mind remains sharp. He also offers sound advice on marriage, having been married for 65 years until his wife died in 2003. ‘You treat your woman as your sweetheart. You treat her well, all the time,’ he told the local online news site.

Plausibility rating: 7 out of 10. As we’ve seen religious faith is associated with longer life but it’s unlikely that it’s due to divine intervention. More plausibly, religion offers a focus and purpose to life and it’s this which adds years.

http://www.gazette.net/article/20150610/NEWS/150619771/1123/lanham-veteran-celebrates-100th-birthday&template=gazette

Secret no.4 Praising God

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(Note to readers: the subject of faith doesn’t get the attention it deserves here. I cover it in more detail in this post).

107-year-old Alabama resident Virginia Wright is clear why she has lived so long: “Ain’t no secret. Praising God and going to God for his grace”.

Virginia was born on Nov 25th 1907 and – as of June 2015, remained active. “She can walk around the house, holding on to something,” her daughter, Clairee Washington, told a local newspaper. Clairee, who is herself 89, added “She’ll make her bed. She can wash dishes.”

“We let her do those things to occupy her mind,” said Virginia’s granddaughter, Patricia Lee. “She’ll move around. She likes to stay active. She’ll ask what she can do.”When she folds clothes, “she’ll fold them up and she’ll do it fast so she can get done,” Lee said.

Plausibility rating: 7 out of 10. We can discount the Bible’s claims that Methuselah lived to 969 but being religious has been associated with longevity in several studies. So too though has having a more general ‘sense of purpose’ so it may be this rather than religious faith which is the key factor.

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2015/06/secret_to_longevity_aint_no_se.html

Secret no.3 Stem cells

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115 year old Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper gave her ‘advice’ about longevity posthumously. A tissue sample showed that Mrs van Andel-Schipper still had two stem cells active producing white blood cells, whereas most of us have lost them by the time we die. So that could be the explanation for her remarkable long life. Or it might not. We really don’t know.

Plausibility: ? Not a clue. Check back in a decade or so.

No, booze won’t help you live to be 100—but this might

Secret no.2 A lot of booze

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Pennsylvanian Pauline Spagnola told a local reporter that ‘a lot of booze’ is the key to her reaching 100. The video of that advice briefly made her an internet star and also earned her three crates of free beer from the local Lion brewery, her favourite (though Pauline is also quoted as saying ‘Anything they buy me – I drink it’). This was reported by the local TV station as “Booze Drinkin’ Granny Gets Free Brew”.

Those crates may not have lasted long: Pauline says she has ‘one at noon, one in the evening and one going to sleep – put me to sleep’. You can almost hear the nervousness in the director of the supported housing where Pauline lives, who is quoted as saying cautiously: ‘As long as there’s no restrictions with medication or any type of dependency issues, there’s nothing wrong with having a beer here or there.’ And in fairness, Pauline did say she planned to share her free drink with friends.

Plausibility rating: 5 out of 10. There is plenty of evidence that alcohol – particularly but not exclusively, red wine – can improve health and longevity. Typically, the studies find that drinkers even have a lifespan advantage over teetotallers. However the research is disputed and studies also tend to suggest that moderation is key. Too much alcohol is generally found to limit life rather than extend it.

We cover the subject of alcohol and its impact on longevity more fully in the posts on Whisky, Guinness and brandy, and the effects of heavier drinking in gin and tonic and – incredibly – four bottles of red wine a day.

Secret no. 1 Pearls

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(Reader’s note: in retrospect I wouldn’t have started 101 Ways to Live to 100 with this effort. Not only is Barbara Bush not actually 100 but it’s clear she meant her answer to be tongue in cheek. If I’d been really thinking it through, I might have developed something along the lines of ‘how important is looking good/self esteem to living to 100’. Or I would have picked up that ‘positive attitude’ answer and run with that But I didn’t. We get fully into our swing by no. 10: 2 raw eggs so you might want to start there instead.)

Barbara Bush hasn’t made it to 100 yet (she’s 90) but her secret to ageing gracefully is pearls because apparently they hide the wrinkles. More seriously she reckons  positive attitude has got her most of the way to her centenary.

Plausibility rating: 0 out of 10 for pearls; 8 out of 10 for having a positive attitude. Lots of surveys show that mental attitude improves longevity.It’s a theme that’s bound to come out more as we work through our 101.