The general feeling of most people is that genetics plays the most significant role in determining the life spans of most people, lifestyle choices are not as important to the process. This theory was knocked flat due to several studies that evaluated the progression of age and used sets of twins to make their discoveries. They focused their research on twins who were brought up separately as well as raised together to better understand the effects of genetics compared to lifestyle choices impacting longevity.
A pair of studies featuring twins as participants revealed that the progression of aging had fewer links to genetics than it did to lifestyle choice and health activities. Due to the conclusions drawn by this research, it can be stated with reasonable assurance that our health actions and lifestyle choices affect how we age.
It is important that we understand the reasons why we age, and there are still many questions regarding the process. The majority of aging theories are based on biological scenarios; they fall into two age theory groups:
• The first states ageing is a result of stochastic theories, meaning essentially the aging process occurs because of arbitrary harm done to cells and organ tissue throughout the years;
• The number two group is the programmed theories that claim aging and cell mortality is caused by genetics.
Many evaluations exhibit a link between being overweight and reduced life expectancy. On the other hand, it has never been determined that slender people live any longer than obese individuals.
However, investigations have pointed out that the least rate of mortality is in those with a body mass index in the twenty one and twenty two figures. You can gauge what your own BMI is with the following method:
• Change your weight from pounds into Kilograms by dividing your pound weight by 2.2
• Multiply how tall you are in inches by 0.0254 to determine how tall you are in meters.
• Multiply how tall you are in meter on its own.
• Now divide the answer in number one by your answer in number three.
Research investigators in the New England Centenarian Study evaluated what aids people in living a prolonged and healthy life by observing individuals that had effectively endured into an “elderly senior age bracket.” This amazing collection of men and women stayed physically fit and healthy as well as mentally alert far into their nineties. The common thread in a large number of these long lived folks was:
• Few if any were plagued by depression;
• They experienced a great deal cerebral attention stimulus;
• They would often fall back on humor as a means of coping with adversity;
• Enjoyed a large amount of social support and relationships;
• There was almost an entire absence of obesity, Excessive use of alcohol and tobacco.
What is the overall revelation that can be learned from this study of New England’s valued aged elder population? In large part lifestyle choices and health attributes can assist us in avoiding the adversity associated with aging so we can live extended lives.
There are ways to achieve active and independent lifestyles into our later years; we have more power over this than we know.
The first thing we must do is find ourselves a competent physician we can trust and make them our primary health care provider and partner. Here is what we begin with:
• Have a plan when you visit your physician. Knowing in advance what you wish to talk about will optimize your time and the doctors.
• Chart your healthcare in a journal. Keep track of any symptoms since physicians are trained to identify illnesses based on symptomatic patterns formed by a disease.
• If you are visiting the physician due to illness, your objective is to determine exactly what is wrong with you. Your goal needs to be assisting your health care provider to expeditiously and accurately answer that question.
Prior to attending the appointment with your physician, make a list of the following answers you wish to tell the doctor based on these questions:
• How long have you been feeling this way?
• Have there been any changes since you began feeling symptoms?
• What was the initial indication that you were becoming ill?
• What kind of feeling did you have?
• What other symptoms – if any – did you experience?
• Were you doing anything in particular when symptoms first began appearing?
• Did anything seem to make the symptoms worse?
• Did anything seem to give you relief from the symptoms?
• Was there anything in particular that could have brought on the symptoms [a new medication, stress or injury]?
• Did your symptoms move and if so, where?
A part of aging that strikes fear into many is the prospect of maybe losing one’s memory. Without our memory, we lose that part of us that gives value to our life experiences and places us at a distinct disadvantage when socializing and remaining vital. Another fallacy is the belief that senility and simple memory deprivation is also to be expected with age, fearing simply the thought of it. Fortunately there are methods that we can employ to assist with thwarting mental deficiency of this kind.
A theory exists that by creating brain capacity we will be able to fend off dementia. It is a known fact that if we stimulate our brain we will create new brain cells. There is evidence that there is a reduction in the occurrence of dementia in people with a higher education. Better educated will probably not aid in averting Alzheimer’s disease since there are many well educated individuals who have succumbed to this dreaded illness.
There is some hopeful research that delves into the results of aging and increasing knowledge. It implies if elderly individuals are able to learn information in a more proficient manner, like utilizing organizational methods, categorizing and forming patterns rather than using repetitive learning, data retrieval gets better. Experts have known for some time that elderly people overall sustain the same general level of astuteness, it is their information retrieval process warehoused in their memory that is altered. These new investigations provide evidence that the elderly population is able to learn novel methods of enhancing their memory.What follows are some methods for the prevention of memory.
Here are some ways to help you prevent memory failure:
• Try to sustain proper health;
• Quit smoking;
• Have one aspirin each day;
• Consume alcohol only occasionally;
• Make a note of medicinal reactions;
• Preserve mental health. This is vital for optimum brain functionality. Depression and other mental and emotional difficulties can develop a dearth of inspiration to partake in intellectually stimulating exercise that will aid in ongoing superior cerebral fitness;
• Discuss herbal and vitamin supplementation with your physician;
• Arouse your brain! Stimulating it is most likely the most critical thing you can do. You simply must kindle your brain in enjoyable and entertaining ways during your elderly years.
Train your brain utilizing the following techniques:
• Encourage your auditory function by listening to music and engaging in discussion with friends;
• Improve your eyesight by reading, working on art projects or enjoying sights and scenery;
• Enhance your olfactory senses by getting out in nature and enjoying the smells;
• Improve motor senses with exercise and physical activity;
• Challenge your brain with crossword puzzles and brain teasers;
• Try something new like learning the piano or guitar, take an art class or learn a new language.
Try doing something that has always interested you but perhaps you never had the time for in the past. These are the things you will find pleasurable in your older age. By taking an interest in social interaction you will realize a renewed sense of achievement and improve your mental function.
Remember that Colonel Sanders of fried chicken fame used his first social security check at age sixty five to launch the fried chicken business he became legendary for. Albert Einstein began playing the violin in his later years and Winston Churchill took up painting and masonry of all things when most aging persons get comfortable in their rockers!
You must be daring, there is little to lose and so much more to gain and it will all lead to an improved memory and independent daily life. You are the one person that is in command of the aging process so seize control of it!
Wed, Apr 28, 2010
Gerontology, Health And Aging, Lifestyle, Longevity