1.
Do
you average at least half an hour a day reading things that you do not have to
read?
2.
Do
you have a passionate interest in at least one special interest other than your
job and family.
Optimism
3.
When
someone gives you a compliment, do you usually believe it and accept it
graciously?
4.
Do
you think that most people are good?
5.
Do
you think that next year will be better than this year?
Self-reliance and independence
6.
Do
you consider your doctor’s advice but regard yourself responsible for your
health?
7.
Do
you seek solutions to health problems other than taking medications?
8.
When
deciding what to eat, do you use your own criteria for what agrees with you and
keeps you healthy and energetic (as opposed to deferring to friends or
experts)?
Sense of humor
9.
Have
you laughed out loud in the last 24 hours?
10.
Can
you tell a joke or say something funny and get others to laugh?
Cheerfulness
11.
Are
you cheerful?
12.
Do
you smile a lot?
Resilient coping skills
13.
When
you think of family members, friends or pets that have died, do you usually
think of them fondly?
14.
When
there is new technology, do you welcome the change?
15.
When
someone cuts in front of you in traffic or tailgates you, do you take it in
stride?
16.
Would
you be willing to pursue a new career if your current career were no longer
satisfying?
17.
When someone disappoints you, are you able to
let go of any resentments within a week?
Relaxation skills
18.
Do you engage in an activity several times a
week that gets you in a relaxed, meditative state (e.g., yoga, classical music,
breathing exercises, prayer, fishing)?
19.
When you get upset, do you have a reliable way
to quickly get yourself into a resourceful state?
Finances
20.
At the end of each month do you have more
savings than the previous month?
21.
If you chose to quit your job and took a
sabbatical, could you live comfortably for six months?
Sense of purpose
22.
Do you believe in God or some form of higher
power or truth or purpose in life?
23.
Do you have a sense of purpose for your life?
Friends
24.
Aside from work, do you spend at least four
hours a week with friends?
25.
Do you spend at least four hours a week with
family members (or friends who are like family)?
26.
Do you spend at least an hour a week with
friends who are chronologically younger than you are or with children?
27.
Are most of your friends positive, optimistic
people?
Self-talk
28.
When you “talk to yourself,” is most of the
conversation positive?
Sex
29.
Do you have sexual relations with someone you
care about at least once a week?
Physical risk taking
30.
Do you always wear a seatbelt and not drive
more than ten miles over the speed limit?
31.
Have you been free of any serious sports
injuries in the last ten years?
Physical fitness
32.
Do you get a 30-minute cardiovascular workout
at least twice a week?
33.
Do you engage in activities that keep you
physically flexible at least twice a week?
34.
Do you engage in exercises or sports that
require physical strength at least twice a week?
35.
Do you breathe deeply (from your abdomen
rather than your chest) at least a few minutes each day?
Health practices
36.
Do you take a daily multiple vitamin?
37.
Do you floss and brush your teeth at least
once a day?
38.
Do you drink at least six glasses of filtered
water a day?
39.
Do you refuse to “go on a diet?”
40.
Do you maintain a fairly constant body weight
that is within 20 pounds of your “ideal body weight?”
41.
Does your lifestyle not include smoking
cigarettes, cigars, or marijuana?
Longevity expectation
42.
Do you believe that you will live past 100?
SCORING:
Give yourself one point for each yes
answer.
37-42
You
have excellent mental longevity skills. The concepts in Defy Aging will
feel natural and comfortable and help you reinforce and sharpen your excellent
skills.
31-36
You
are off to a good start. Defy Aging should be very helpful in filling in
some gaps and reinforcing and honing your mental longevity skills.
25-30
You
are doing a number of things well. It would be prudent to focus first on being
clear and vivid about why you want to live a long, vital life. Begin with the
easiest changes and take on the more difficult ones as you make progress.
< 25
You
need to seriously consider what your life will be like as you age. Defy
Aging can be extremely helpful. Make a vivid mental image of what you could
be like if you really take care of yourself mentally and physically. Notice how
you exude energy and vitality. Now make a vivid mental image of what it
probably would be like if you don’t make changes in your attitudes, beliefs,
coping skills, and lifestyle. Perhaps this image has you hunched over, bored,
in pain, and in a wheelchair in a nursing home at 80. Keeping those images in
mind to motivate you, begin with the easiest changes and take on the more difficult ones as you
make progress.
RATIONALE
FOR THE ITEMS:
Active
mentally
While centenarians are a diverse group,
virtually all of them are very active mentally and cite being mentally active as
vital to long life. Like physical skills, mental skills are “use them or lose
them” faculties.
Optimism
Martin Seligman’s research, summarized in
his book, Learned Optimism, provides an abundance of data on how
optimistic people have better physical health, are more successful, and
experience less depression. Depression is the “common cold” of mental health
and the incidence of depression is becoming epidemic. Although many
centenarians have had difficult lives, including dealing with two World Wars,
the Great Depression, loss of loved ones, and in many cases poverty, few
centenarians have reported problems with depression. Depression impairs people’s immune
systems. A major difference between centenarians and people who die at younger
ages appears to be that most centenarians avoid depression and its
effects–impairing sleep, appetite, energy levels, the immune system and
enjoying life. Most researchers report that in interviews and psychological
testing the vast majority of centenarians are upbeat.
Self-reliant and independent
Self-reliance and independence are major
traits distinguishing centenarians. Researchers reported that the older
centenarians become, the more they make decisions on the basis of what they
believe as opposed to what others expect. Most take few medications and many
only see a doctor when they have to. (They would be wiser to see a doctor for
annual checkups.) They place responsibility for their health with themselves
and not their doctors. They “march to a different drummer.”
Sense of humor
Humor is commonly cited in centenarian
interviews and observed by centenarian researchers. Humor requires flexible
thinking (to understand word plays, double entendres, etc.). Laughing
stimulates a lot of movement in the body and stimulates the immune system.
Unlike the heart, the lymph system does not have a pump and relies on breathing to force lymph to circulate. In his book,
Anatomy
of an Illness, Norman Cousins describes how he used laughter to
overcome a usually fatal illness (ankylosing spondylitis).
Cheerfulness
While research data on cheerfulness are
scarce, cheerfulness certainly appears to be a close relative of optimism. Research
and interviews often cite centenarians as satisfied with life. In her
autobiography, Bubbles, opera diva Beverly Sills says she was asked if she was happy. She has
two children; one is deaf and the other is mentally retarded. Her singing
career was shortened by cervical cancer. She replied that, in view of the
tragedies in her life, she doesn’t know if she would describe herself as happy,
but she is cheerful. Happiness is a by-product of having purpose and passion. Cheerfulness is a trait that can
be learned and practiced.
Resilient coping skills
Hans Selye’s classic 1956 book, TheStress of Life, documented how stress prompts
the body to respond with a general adaptation syndrome. The syndrome begins with
adrenalin and other hormones rallying for the crisis (the alarm stage), and
continues into the resistance and exhaustion stages if the stress is prolonged
and severe. Everyone experiences stress. A certain amount of stress, especially
from desirable events like a promotion or getting married, is good. Prolonged
stress, however, takes its toll on our bodies and makes us vulnerable to
illnesses. Centenarians’ skill at dealing with stress protects their bodies
from becoming run down and vulnerable to illnesses.
One of the most difficult stresses
centenarians face is dealing with the loss of loved ones. People who cope
effectively with loss focus on what was good about the loved ones and remember
them fondly. They often think of their loved ones as a resource that they can
call on for support and guidance. People who do not cope effectively focus on
the loss and how things will never be the same.
Change is inevitable and becoming more and
more rapid in our society. If you see each change as an ordeal (e.g., dreading
the newest computers and software), then change becomes one more stress and one
more factor that can contribute to depression.
Perspective is also important. Treating minor events,
such as being cut
off
in traffic, as
no big deal
prevents your body
from triggering its stress response. Perspective on larger stressors,
for example, losing a job, can minimize the body’s stress response and vulnerability to depression. If pursuing a new career is an ordeal, it
can be very stressful. If you see it primarily as an exciting challenge, most
of the stress will be eustress (good stress).
Hanging onto disappointments, resentments, and should-have-beens prompts the body’s
stress response, ties up emotional energy, and distracts people from finding
solutions. Often people hang onto resentments, thinking the resentments will
protect them from getting hurt again. Instead it just prolongs the hurt. Most
centenarians have excellent skills at letting go of painful events and
resentments. They live in the present.
Relaxation skills
Relaxation
skills are essential to keeping the body in a harmonious state and avoiding
stress responses. Just as muscles need both challenges and relaxation, our
conscious minds need challenges and time off so unconscious and meditative
states can do their intuitive work. People who are deprived of dream sleep (REM or Rapid Eye Movement sleep), even if they obtain
an adequate number of hours of sleep, become extremely irritable. After several
days of REM sleep deprivation they become irrational. Even when awake we appear
to need periodic meditative states to be relaxed, flexible, and function well.
Quickly and effectively getting yourself
out of an upset state is a micro resilient coping skill. It short circuits the
stress response and helps us problem-solve and relate to people better.
Finances
What do couples argue about the most? Money. For most people finances are one of
the most stressful areas of their lives. Feeling financially
secure and knowing that you have some financial reserves helps you feel better
emotionally and physically. If you are saving money (or paying off mortgages
and debts) it is easier to feel optimistic about the future. The issue isn’t
how much money you have in absolute terms but living within your means, or
better yet, living below your means and having the security of savings.
Sense of
purpose
While it might be partially a generational
phenomenon, most current centenarians profess a strong belief in God. It is
possible to have a sense of purpose without literally believing in God. We all
know people who do not believe in God but whose commitment to truth, justice,
morality, or a cause makes them spiritual people and gives them a sense of
purpose. When people lose their sense of purpose, they become vulnerable to depression and their immune systems become
compromised and vulnerable to illness.
Friends
In his
book, Real Age, Michael Roizen calculates how different factors affect one’s
life expectancy. For socialization he cites three factors: 1) being married, 2)
seeing at least six friends at least monthly, and 3) participating in social
groups. The “real age” for a 55-year-old man who meets all three criteria is
46, two criteria 49, one criterion 53, and no criterion 60. For a 55-year-old woman
the real ages are 49, 53, 59, and 61. Presumably the effect is a little
stronger for men because women in our culture are better at social networking.
When a partner’s spouse dies, his or her risk of illness or death skyrockets
for the first year. Retirement also changes social networks and can be very
stressful.
We become like the people with whom we
socialize. A natural part of forming rapport with people is sharing interests
and values. If most of our friends are older, we get pulled into their lifestyles
and beliefs about aging. If many of our friends are younger, we get pulled into their younger
lifestyles and beliefs about aging. If we associate with grumpy people, we are
likely to develop negative banter. If we associate with positive, optimistic
people, we are likely to develop upbeat thinking and conversations.
Self-talk
If you find
yourself saying, “You stupid idiot, why did you say such a dumb thing,” it is
time to reprogram your self-talk. Motivational speaker and author Anthony
Robbins makes a strong case that the quality of our lives depends on the
quality of questions we ask ourselves, e.g., How can I make this
better? What blessings am I grateful
for? How can I make this a great day?
Sex
Sex
enhances emotional intimacy, relaxes us, decreases stress, and is one of life’s
great pleasures. Michael Roizen in Real Age reports that women who are
unsatisfied with the quality or quantity of their sexual relations have a life
expectancy ½ a year less than is average for their age while women who are
satisfied with both the quality and quantity have a life expectancy 1½ years
longer than average. For men, fewer than five orgasms a year shortens life
expectancy by 2½ years while more than 300 orgasms a year adds three years to
their life expectancy.
Physical risk taking
There are many things people can do to
lessen their physical risks. Driving a safe car, wearing seat belts, and not
speeding are some of the easiest. Sports can be a great way to have fun, have a
network of friends, and stay fit. Quite a few people become addicted to sports,
however, and continue sports even when their bodies are telling them to change
to a safer sport or exercise. A common example is runners who develop knee
problems but “have to” continue running.
Physical fitness
Fitness does not need to be an obsession.
It does need to include cardiovascular, strength, and flexibility activities.
One of the things that often causes elderly people’s health to deteriorate is
falls. Many falls are due to weak muscles, poor balance, a lack of flexibility,
and slow reflexes. Minor miracles have been performed in nursing homes just by
getting residents to do some physical fitness exercises.
Many physically healthy people become
addicted to sports and pursue the sport even when the pursuit is harming their
bodies. For example, they may continue running despite knee problems or a
cessation of menstrual periods. Longevity requires that we listen to our body’s
feedback and do something different if our physical activities are causing
injuries or health problems.
Most people in our society have very
constricted breathing. They breathe primarily from their chest
cavity instead of their abdomens. Even a few minutes a day of deep
breathing helps enormously. Unlike our hearts, our
lymph system does not have a pump and is dependent on our breathing to circulate lymph.
Health practices
Most Americans do not receive all the
vitamins and minerals they need from what they eat. Soil depletion has resulted
in some of our fruits, vegetables, and grains no longer containing
micronutrients such as copper, zinc, sulfur, iron, and magnesium. A daily
multiple vitamin is an easy way to make sure you receive all the vitamins and
minerals you need. (Note: Most men and many women should not have iron in their
vitamins as it fosters free radical damage.)
Taking individual vitamins and minerals can create imbalances between
vitamins and minerals and needs to be carefully thought out. High doses of some
vitamins or minerals can cause health problems.
Flossing and brushing your teeth not only promotes good dental
hygiene and helps teeth and gums last a lifetime, but poor dental hygiene is
linked to cardiovascular disease, strokes, and infections.
Apparently the same bacteria that cause periodontal disease prompt an immune
response which causes arteries to swell. Michael Roizen in Real Age reports that the absence of
periodontal diseases can add 6.4 years to your life expectancy. Thus, daily
flossing and brushing are extremely time and cost-effective health practices.
Most city tap water is probably OK but we
would be healthier without the chlorine. Our bodies are 80% water and water is
the primary vehicle for our bodies to circulate blood, lymph, hormones,
cerebral spinal fluid, etc. and to eliminate wastes. Filtering water is easy
and inexpensive. It removes chlorine and other chemicals but leaves in the
minerals. Filtered water also tastes better than chlorinated water. Distilled
water leaches chemicals from our bodies (and tastes flat). The Natural
Resources Defense Council tested 103 brands of bottled water and found that
one-third of them did not meet California standards and guidelines for bottled
water.
When people reduce their calorie
consumption, the body adapts by reducing its metabolism. When they go off a
diet, the metabolism bounces back. There is a substantial body of research
indicating that “yo-yo dieting” is hard on our body’s systems, rarely works,
and is worse than being overweight. Losing weight needs to be gradual and the
result of ongoing health practices. The easiest way to lose weight, for most
people, is to increase the muscle-to-fat ratio and metabolism by exercising.
One of the few physical factors that distinguish centenarians is that they
maintain a fairly constant body weight their whole adult lives.
The research on the health problems caused
by cigarette smoking is overwhelming. Cigar smoking is associated with mouth
cancers and some smoke is inhaled. Marijuana has 50% more carcinogens and 400% more tar
than cigarettes. Prolonged use of marijuana also affects motivation, which in
turn leads to less physical and mental activity.
Longevity expectation
Our minds
try very hard to fulfill our beliefs and expectations. Just believing something
does not make it happen, but if you believe you will live past 100, it is more
likely to happen. To build this belief, study the supporting data, e.g.,
medical advances, the increasing number of centenarians, increasing resources,
and the generally good health of many centenarians.
Ageless Lifestyles
Institute
865 College Ave., Columbus, OH 43209
DrBrickey@DrBrickey.com