SUCCESSFUL AGING
by Dr. Robert Kahn

Shortly after my co-author, John W. Rowe, and I had finished our book on Successful Aging, a journalist asked me to summarize our ten years of research in three short sentences. A wiser respondent might have refused but, ever docile in response to unreasonable requests, I offered the following: It’s up to you! It’s never too late! Usual aging is not good enough!

Each of these assertions deserves explanation and qualification, but all three come with substantial research pedigrees.

It’s up to you!
is a reminder that, even in this age of great genomic discovery, genes are not destiny. Most genes indicate potentialities and tendencies, not certainties; they must be expressed or turned on, and our lifestyle and environment provide the turn-ons. Comparative studies of elderly twins who were reared together with twins reared apart show that genetic factors explain only one-third of their physical function level and one-half of their mental function. The rest depended on the life they lived, their environment, their lifestyle, and the choices they made.

It’s never too late!
Well, almost never. Research reminds us that nature is remarkably forgiving. Experiments show that exercise strengthens muscles, even for people living in nursing homes and classified as “frail elderly.” Quitting smoking, even after decades of cigarettes, reduces the chances of heart disease and lung cancer. Five years after quitting, ex-smokers are at no greater risk of heart disease than lifelong non-smokers. And after fifteen years, ex-smokers are no longer at greater risk of lung cancer than are non-smokers.

Usual aging is not good enough!
In the relatively prosperous countries of the world, usual aging is likely to mean eating too much, exercising too little, and often the consequences known as Syndrome X, a cluster of risk factors that include overweight, elevated levels of blood sugar, high blood pressure, and increases in blood fats life cholesterol and triglycerides. Such things may be usual but they reduce your chances for a long and active life. They are not good enough.

The journalist did not ask me the question I really wanted to discuss: What new research would most help people age successfully?

I think the answer involves the gap between what people already know and what they do. Diet, exercise, stimulating mental activity, close relationships with friends and family... People know these things are important for their health and well-being; they can talk the talk. The big gap is between the talk and the walk, between what people already know and what they do. We need to learn how to help people bridge that gap. That is a research challenge waiting to be met.

LIFESTYLE CHOICES DETERMINE HOW YOU AGE
Results of the MacArthur Study on Successful Aging
The ten year MacArthur Study on Successful Aging investigated factors that
influence physical and cognitive functioning among relatively highly
functional volunteers between the ages of 70 and 79. They found that
lifestyle choices, far more than genes, determine how well we age.
These vital choices are the type and amount of food we eat, our choice
of exercises, how well we stimulate our mental capacities, how well we
manage to stay self sufficient, and how much we stay connected with our
fellow humans. None of these are determined by our genetic make-up, but
by the choices we make on a daily basis.

The same sort of conclusion was arrived at from a recent medical study
of over 200,000 patients who suffered from various forms of heart
disease; 92% of these people had made poor lifestyle choices, summarized
as the four avoidable causes - smoking, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, and diabetes brought on by obesity.

So the magic bullet for living a longer, healthier and happier life is
not to be found in some wonder drug, but in an attitude and lifestyle
change which is readily available to everyone for the simple cost of
making the effort to follow the advice of the researchers into the
reality of aging successfully.

ROBERT L. KAHN, Ph.D. is professor emeritus of psychology and public health at the University of Michigan. He and co-author, Dr. John W. Rowe initiated the MacArthur Foundation groundbreaking Research Study on Aging in America. It’s remarkable results are brought together in their authoritative book “Successful Aging”. It shows you how the lifestyle choices you make now – more than heredity – determine your health and vitality.