People who believe that “it’s all downhill from here” are the one aspect of aging that Rose Cooper does not comprehend.
Rose, who is 95 years old, has spoken with a fair number of people who have told her something along those lines. She asserts, “I simply do not have that attitude at all.” I am extremely hopeful and feel fortunate to be here. I try to find the good in every situation and figure out what to do next.
Laura Carstensen, Ph.D., can relate to the idea that attitudes about aging need to change. She is the founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity and a professor of psychology at Stanford University. She is sick of the pessimistic outlook that is based on the fact that life expectancy has been rising. She and her coworkers envisioned a time when many of us would typically live to be 100 years old for years. Demographers predict that this will be the case by 2050. However, according to Carstensen, despite the fact that the increase in life expectancy of nearly 30 years during the 20th century is arguably one of the greatest achievements in human history, a lot of people are more worried than excited about it.
She asserts, “Most of the conversations about aging and increased life expectancy focus mainly on coping with an increasing number of people whose health is declining.” However, this rigid approach prevents original thought about how extending our lives could improve our quality of life.
Carstensen launched the initiative known as The New Map of Life to address this issue. She wants to compose a new story about life span and the means we’ll have to take — separately and as a general public — to improve the nature of our more extended lives. After all, if we look at an average of 30 more years in life than our ancestors did, we want them to be healthy, happy, and optimistic, like Rose Cooper, who is 95 years old.
Carstensen asserts, “You can’t achieve what you can’t imagine.” I came to the realization that we won’t ask the right questions if all we focus on is reducing our age-related decline and avoiding the “gray tsunami” that everyone is afraid of. Carstensen is redefining the difficulties and opportunities of a longer lifespan through this initiative. According to her, “the evidence is far more mixed” and “there is a tendency to think about aging as inevitably going downhill.”
The most common aging misconceptions
Carstensen says she doesn’t want to make aging look too good. After all, there are downsides to biological and physical aging, and the physical signs of aging you may be dealing with—the ones that make your cardiologist and rheumatologist on your phone’s “favorites” list—can definitely make you less upbeat.
According to Sofiya Milman, M.D., director of human longevity studies at the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, one way to think about aging is as the body’s cells going through a natural process of dysfunction accumulation over time. She explains, “At some point, you cross a threshold at which that accumulation leads to a clinical manifestation of age-related diseases like cardiovascular problems, diminished cognitive function, or even frailty.” Dr. Milman is conducting research in a brand-new study on “super-agers,” or people who have reached the age of 95 without exhibiting any signs of disease. Some people reach that point much later than others.
Dr. Milman says, “There’s a lot to learn from these longest-living people.” By the end of the year, she wants to find at least 750 super-agers and enroll them in her study. She also wants to build a community where they can share stories and experiences. Dr. Milman is determined to respond to what she refers to as the “million-dollar question”: Why are super-agers capable of delaying disease onset? She and her colleagues hope to create therapies for the rest of us by imitating the biological pathways they discover in their search for a solution. For instance, they might develop a pill to help us prevent diseases caused by aging in the same way that centenarians do. According to Dr. Milman, super-agers “show us that it is within the biology of the human body to live long and healthy lives.”
According to Carstensen, one of the most widespread misconceptions about aging is that people will always be unhappy. She refers to this as “the misery myth,” and she even teaches the idea to her Stanford undergraduate students.
“I tell my young students, “When people say these are the best years of your life, they’re wrong!,” and it’s so much fun,” She claims. One piece of proof: According to statistics, mental health issues are more prevalent among young people. In point of fact, when Carstensen and her colleagues surveyed people over 50, they discovered that the frequency and intensity of negative emotions decreased with age. She says, “The strong trend is that people become happier as they get older, or at least less sad, frustrated, and angry.”
How we may improve with age
So, how can we prepare to feel better as we get older, or “yold,” as the Japanese say, which is a mix of young and old? The Great Age Reboot was written by Michael F. Roizen, M.D., emeritus Cleveland Clinic chief wellness officer. According to “Cracking the Longevity Code for a Younger Tomorrow,” we can all accomplish it. Dr. Roizen asserts, “If we take the right steps, each of us can extend not only our life span but also our health span, which is how good we feel as we get older.” Additionally, the advantages more rapidly accrue the earlier you begin.
Carstensen concurs, adding that the key to feeling good is having a positive outlook on the possibilities presented by each birthday. She says, “One thing we know now that we didn’t know 25 years ago is that people can thrive, not just survive, in their 80s and 90s.” The best place to start is with these strategies supported by research.
Move your body on a regular basis.
It has been said before, and with good reason: Exercise is essential for mental and physical well-being. Your metabolism, bone and joint health, cardiovascular strength, brain function, and many other factors will all be significantly impacted if you include some form of exercise in your daily routine. According to Dr. Roizen, “being active is a major predictor of longevity.” On the other hand, inactivity encourages disability and death. Additionally, if you’re feeling more down than up these days, consider adding some weight lifting to your routine: According to research published in JAMA Psychiatry, strength training can significantly reduce depression symptoms.
Dr. Roizen says, “Any exercise is better than none” if you’re starting from a sedentary position. Try 60 minutes of deliberate movement per day, or a few minutes every half hour you’re awake, he suggests. Step up your exercise routine to get even more brain-boosting benefits if you already have one. When you engage in strenuous physical activity, such as increasing your usual walking pace to the point where you are sweating profusely and breathing heavily, or lifting weights that require fewer repetitions than you are accustomed to, you activate genes that cause the brain to produce brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which in turn causes the growth of your hippocampus, which is an important part of your brain that is involved in learning and memory. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease risk is lower when BDNF levels are higher.
Set your diet.
We now know more than ever about which foods are good for our health and which ones are likely to make us sick over time. According to Carstensen, what we eat also has an impact on how we feel, how active we are, and how well we sleep. After years of contradictory diet advice, the vast majority of studies demonstrate that adhering to a Mediterranean diet as we get older is a great idea for the majority of us. Women who ate this way had a 28% lower risk of cardiovascular events, according to one study; Another study found that it may lower the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.
Dr. Roizen asserts, “The best thing about this diet is how simple it is.” Plant-based fats like olive oil, nuts, and avocados should make up the majority of your daily calories. Fish is better than red meat. Vegetables high in fiber should also make up half of your plate, preferably more. These foods should keep out added sugars, saturated fats, and simple carbohydrates if you eat a lot of them. Additionally, Dr. Roizen recommends eating earlier in the day rather than later. He advises, “Eating only when the sun is up and eating 75% of your calories seven or more hours before your planned bedtime should be your goal a few days a week.” Intermittent fasting can lower the risk of developing chronic diseases, according to research.
Set up your health-care team.
As you get older, you will almost certainly experience health issues. However, according to Dr. Roizen, you will be able to deal with whatever comes your way with greater confidence and less stress if you have a team of experts in the medical field at your disposal prior to receiving a diagnosis. He adds, “And it’s important to actually listen to the advice you’re given.” He cites research indicating that less than a quarter of people who are advised to participate in rehabilitation following a cardiovascular event or procedure actually do so. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, about a third of patients don’t tell their doctors if they disagree with or don’t understand treatment recommendations. Talking openly and honestly can be easier when you have a team of doctors you respect and trust. Dr. Roizen adds, “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get a second opinion.” It’s always a good idea to get multiple opinions because health and medicine are complicated, especially when dealing with serious issues.
Improve your connections (and form new ones too)
It’s important to feel connected to other people, and this is especially important as we get older. Social isolation has been shown to make stress worse and increase the likelihood of serious illness and death. A recent review emphasized the significance of not feeling disposable but rather valued. It has assisted older people in preventing mental health issues throughout and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Particularly, Carstensen’s research demonstrates the significance of intergenerational connections. One of the reasons 85-year-old Joanne Weiss in Wellesley, Massachusetts, believes she is thriving is because she has friends of all ages. She says, “My friends are mostly younger than me and come from all kinds of different places and countries.” I constantly learn from these friendships that span generations.
Maintain sex in your life.
Weakened blood flow to the sexual organs or health issues like pain, heart disease, and depression can all affect sexual function as we get older. But Carstensen says that doesn’t mean you should give up on having a good sexual life: Intercourse is not the only aspect of intimacy. A feeling of closeness can also be reinforced by being held, touched, and kissed.
According to Dr. Roizen, if you have a low libido, there may be a surprising reason for it: excessive amounts of inflammation. Inflammation affects many of the major systems in the body that are related to sexual function in both men and women. These systems include reward signaling in the brain, which decreases desire and inhibits arousal, as well as levels of sex hormones that help us feel desire and arousal (reduced testosterone in men, lowered estrogen and progesterone in women). Dr. Roizen says that, in addition to having a partner, your level of inflammation is the most important factor in continuing to have sex at age 75. He suggests getting a blood test for hsCRP to determine your level. “We can lower our inflammation by taking care of ourselves through exercise, diet, some supplements, and other positive lifestyle changes,” he asserts, regardless of the outcomes.
No companion? That’s fine. Masturbating has been shown to improve sleep, mood, self-esteem, and even your outlook on life, according to research.
Rethink your retirement plans.
One of the things that excites Carstensen the most when she daydreams about how life might be when more people regularly turn 100 is giving up the idea of working 40 to 50 hours a week until we’re about 65 and retiring to the golf course or tennis courts. Instead, what if we were able to continue working into our 70s and 80s if we worked a little less throughout our lives? What if our careers had more ebb and flow, allowing us to work less when our children were young, more when they were older, and less (but not completely) as we got older—for example, working 10 hours a week in later decades?
Carstensen asserts, “Our longer lifespans mean we have more time to separate raising our children from reaching our careers’ peak—those don’t have to happen at the same time.” We have the chance to have really creative and imaginative discussions about how our work lives might look in 100 years. Naturally, as people get older, some careers are better suited to part-time work than others. For instance, Carstensen envisions teaching into her 80s, albeit in fewer classes than she currently teaches. Something similar may not be possible if your job requires physical labor. According to Carstensen, you can still stay engaged by engaging in something that makes you feel valued and productive. I believe that all of us, young and old, would be happier if we abandoned the traditional retirement model and instead worked more throughout our lives.
Think about your financial stability.
As you get older, how much money you have (or don’t have) can either bring you happiness and freedom or stress that makes you miserable. Additionally, our longer lifespans make long-term financial planning more important than ever. According to Dr. Roizen, this means that saving is the most important thing you can do.
Experts can assist you in developing a strategy for early and frequent savings and ensuring that your long-term financial health is in good shape. Dr. Roizen states, “Doing the basics will help you make progress even if you can’t hire someone right now.” He adds, “Saving money is like eating well and exercising.” You shouldn’t begin too soon, and if in doubt, do more.
Begin right now.
Healthy changes function similarly to retirement savings: There will be more advantages as you get older if you get started sooner. Dr. Roizen advises, “Just pick one or two things that feel easy for you to start with and do those.”
Carstensen concurs, adding that even the tiniest adjustments can yield significant rewards. We are aware that altering our lifestyle influences how we age,” she asserts. In fact, the most important thing that researchers have learned in 25 years of studying aging is that we can change how we age. Carstensen states, ” We can do a lot more than the old people of the past, be healthier, and more mentally agile.