To Your Health
November, 2010 (Vol. 04, Issue 11) |
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5. Find Your Happy Place
A study that assessed personality traits among 2,359 generally healthy people who enrolled in 1958 in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging found that men and women who are emotionally calm and organized lived longer than people with less positive personality traits such as anxiousness, anger, or fearfulness.
Mmen and women who scored above average in measures of general activity, emotional stability, or conscientiousness lived an average of two to three years longer than those who scored below average. The researchers concluded: "Enduring cognitive, emotional, and behavioral tendencies have significant influence on health and longevity."
Source: Terracciano A, et al. "Personality Predictors of Longevity: Activity, Emotional Stability, and Conscientiousness." Psychosomatic Medicine, 2008; 70:621-627; published online ahead of print.
6. Don't Tempt Cancer
A report issued jointly by the World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research suggests many types and cases of cancers could be prevented by not smoking, a habit estimated to cause one-third of malignancies. Further, they observe that one-third of cancers are preventable by proper diet, adequate physical activity, and avoiding obesity. "The message coming out of this report is that many, many more cancers are preventable by healthy patterns of diet, weight, and physical activity."
Source: "Healthy Food, Exercise, Keys to Cancer Prevention," MedPageToday.com; reporting on Policy and Action for Cancer Prevention (www.dietandcancerreport.org/pr/?d=overview).
Optimize Your Longevity Potential
In summary, we share the findings from a study of 2,432 older adults who displayed exceptionally good health at baseline. The decade-long study, conducted by M.S. Kaplan, and colleagues and published in the Journal of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences, identified the most important predictors of excellent health as the following: absence of chronic illness, annual income over US$30,000, never smoking, drinking alcohol in moderation, and maintaining a positive outlook (managing stress levels). The researchers concluded: "Many of these factors can be modified when you are young or middle-aged. While these findings may seem like common sense, now we have evidence of which factors contribute to exceptional health [as we age]."
As you can see, staying as healthy as possible for as long as possible and enjoying your golden years, rather than being weighed down by illness and disease, is in large part up to you and the choices you make now, regardless of age. The practical choices we make on an everyday basis are what help us achieve living an extended healthy lifespan. Take a little time and evaluate your current health in conjunction with your health care provider. Small, progressive changes can make a big difference in how long you live and the quality of life you enjoy.
Healthy Habits: Make the Right Choices and Increase Your Lifespan by Up to 25 Years!
When examining the latest research on factors contributing to longevity and lifelong health, it's not hard to see which behaviors can make a big difference, one way or the other. Here's what seems to keep cropping up as the best ways to maximize your healthy lifespan:
- Not smoking at all or quitting smoking
- Healthy diet, particularly consumption of fruits and vegetables
- Consistent physical activity in leisure time
- Maintaining a healthy weight / avoiding obesity
- Alcohol intake only in moderation
- Stress reduction / controlling anxiousness, anger, etc.
Ronald Klatz, MD, is the president of the American Academy of Anti-Aging (www.worldhealth.net), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention, detection and treatment of aging-related disease.
Robert Goldman, MD, is the chairman of the American Academy of Anti-Aging (www.worldhealth.net), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the prevention, detection and treatment of aging-related disease.
