Unlocking the Secrets and techniques to Residing to 100

Wish to get pleasure from a protracted, wholesome, and glad life? Simply stay like a centenarian.

That’s the recommendation of Stacy Andersen, a behavioral neuroscientist at Boston College and co-director of the New England Centenarian Examine, the biggest research of centenarians and their households on the planet. 

The research, which has enrolled greater than 3,000 centenarians over its 30-year historical past, has been exploring the genetic components, way of life selections, and environmental influences that seem to play a task within the longevity of people that stay to 100 and past. The hope is that by finding out centenarians, researchers can discover remedies, in addition to establish habits and environmental components, that might assist everybody stay more healthy for longer.

“Our aim is to not get everybody to stay to age 100. What we’re making an attempt to grasp is: How do you reside to no matter age—your 70s, 80s, or 90s—in superb well being?” Andersen says. 

It seems that centenarians, on common, don’t smoke, eat a different weight loss program, are social, and customarily don’t sweat the small stuff. They usually spend extra years of their life in good well being, often called “healthspan.” In addition they are inclined to have a sense of objective and might discover pleasure within the on a regular basis, even of their twilight years, Andersen says.

As a part of TIME’s sequence interviewing leaders within the longevity area, we spoke to Andersen about her work with centenarians and what all of us can be taught from them about getting old nicely. 

This interview has been condensed and edited for readability.

You run the New England Centenarian Examine. What’s it? 

The research was began in 1995 by Dr. Thomas Perls [a Boston University geriatrician]. When Dr. Perls was a fellow doing his coaching in geriatrics, he was assigned to 2 sufferers over the age of 100 who had been dwelling in a retirement group. He had all the time been taught that the older you get, the sicker you get, so he anticipated the sufferers to be confined to their rooms and to be his sickest sufferers—however that wasn’t the case. A lot to his shock, they had been two of his healthiest and most energetic sufferers. They had been giving piano live shows to the group. They had been on the market doing issues. He questioned if the 2 sufferers had been simply two outstanding outliers or if there was one thing completely different about individuals who attain these excessive ages—100 and over. So, he began the New England Centenarian Examine. It has that identify as a result of it initially began within the eight cities round Boston, however over time we have enrolled individuals everywhere in the U.S., Canada, and different nations as nicely.

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To this point, we’ve enrolled over 3,000 centenarians, in addition to a lot of their siblings and offspring. Our oldest participant died on the age of 119. Her daughter lived to 101.

What we have seen with our centenarians is that the older you get, the more healthy you’ve got been, as a result of, on common, centenarians have considerably delayed or prevented many power age-related diseases. So along with having many further years of life, additionally they have very lengthy healthspans. And I feel that is what most of us need.

What sorts of knowledge do you gather from the research members? 

The very first thing we do is get a blood pattern. We’re many various components within the blood that might inform us about how individuals age in a wholesome method. We take a look at genetics, however then we transcend the genes and take a look at different -omics information [which refers to the study of biological molecules like DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites]. We additionally gather a stool pattern in order that we will perceive how micro organism within the intestine would possibly contribute to wholesome getting old, and we ship members preconfigured touchscreen tablets by way of which we will administer an array of cognitive perform assessments. We additionally examine their blood strain and measure their grip power. 

Then we observe up with them yearly. We need to see what medical situations they develop after we meet them. Are they nonetheless capable of stroll a sure distance? Are they nonetheless capable of handle their drugs on their very own over time? We’re actually making an attempt to grasp their getting old trajectory.

For considered one of our research, we concentrate on what we name “cognitive superagers” [those who maintain cognitive function similar to people who are 30 years younger]. For that research, we ask individuals to join our mind donation program so we will take a look at their mind tissue after they go away and establish whether or not there may be the protein buildup that is related to Alzheimer’s illness or frontotemporal dementia. For a few of our centenarians, we’ve seen an actual disconnect. They functioned very nicely of their each day lives, however then we take a look at their mind tissue and so they have vital buildup of amyloid and tau [proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease]. From these circumstances, we will be taught so much about resilience. We’re nonetheless making an attempt to grasp how that disconnect occurs. How do they preserve such good cognitive perform once they have proof of Alzheimer’s illness of their brains?

How large of a task does genetics play in centenarians’ longevity?

For the overwhelming majority of us, genetics accounts for under about 25% [of longevity], and the remaining is expounded to the well being behaviors that we observe. Do you preserve a wholesome weight? Are you consuming a nutritious weight loss program? Are you getting average exercise on daily basis? These are issues that may assist everybody stay 10 years longer. 

For centenarians, there’s a a lot greater genetic element. Genetics accounts for about 75% of what will get you to essentially excessive ages like 105 and older. We’ve realized over time that it actually isn’t one or two genes which might be getting individuals to those excessive ages, however extra like 200 genetic variants.

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We additionally all the time assumed that our centenarians would not have illness variants of genes and that they should be enriched for protecting components, nevertheless it seems that, with a few exceptions, they do have many of the similar illness genes. This implies much more strongly that they’re enriched with protecting components, and that’s what we’re making an attempt to be taught extra about, as a result of that might assist everybody. If we will perceive these organic mechanisms, we may in idea provide you with therapeutics that may assist the final inhabitants.

Like a long life tablet? 

Nicely, we’ve seen that centenarians have a more healthy immune profile. We have seen that they’ve higher DNA restore, and their cells appear to react in another way to emphasize. We’re making an attempt to dig into these mechanisms and people could possibly be translated right into a tablet that might replicate those self same results.

Are there environmental components and way of life habits that appear to contribute to centenarians’ longevity? 

Sure, genetics isn’t every part. Environmental components are an enormous piece that we’re making an attempt to dive into extra now. We’re issues like sleep and leisure actions, social networks, how lengthy individuals labored for and why they retired, how lengthy individuals drive for and why they stopped driving. We need to perceive if persevering with to do wealthy actions over your lifetime performs a task in reaching age 100. 

There are lots of centenarian research everywhere in the world, and each takes a distinct lens on longevity, however I might say that throughout research it actually looks like centenarians have superb psychological well-being. They have an inclination to attain low in neuroticism. They do not fear an excessive amount of about unhealthy issues that occur. They’re capable of take care of them and transfer on. In addition they rating excessive in extraversion. They’re keen to strive new issues. They are usually very outgoing, which I feel helps them make new social connections as their friends go away. They’re out doing issues and assembly new individuals, and that helps their social networks. It additionally helps maintain their brains sturdy.

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One other large piece is that there appears to be a sense of getting objective in life—so waking up within the morning with issues that you simply need to do. I feel that is a bit bit stunning to listen to about individuals at age 100; you would possibly suppose they’re simply sitting round doing nothing, however that is actually not the case. They nonetheless have issues that they need to accomplish. Possibly they don’t seem to be planning 10 years out, however they’re nonetheless discovering pleasure in life.

Typically, our centenarians say that they by no means adopted any particular weight loss program and so they didn’t go to the health club however they stayed busy and so they had been cautious to not overeat and so they ate a variety of meals. 

How about smoking and alcohol? 

Smoking could be very uncommon amongst our centenarians. Every so often you may see within the media a 105-year-old girl who’s smoking a pack a day, however that’s a needle in a haystack. 

By way of alcohol, it varies. They largely aren’t ingesting excessively, however a few of our centenarians do have a glass of wine a day or a shot of no matter they like on daily basis. There’s loads of variability within the completely different well being behaviors of our centenarians. They don’t seem to be all doing one factor.

Does gender play a task?

About 85% of our centenarians are ladies. However the attention-grabbing factor is, the boys who stay to 100 are usually more healthy. The ladies are higher at surviving a very long time with power ailments. The boys, though there are far fewer of them who attain age 100, typically have superb bodily and cognitive perform. The boys are usually what we name “escapers,” the place they’re avoiding illness till after the age of 100.

I do not suppose we all know but why there’s this distinction, nevertheless it’s an space that we maintain , and it is a motive that intercourse variations even amongst centenarians is basically vital.

Has working with centenarians modified the best way you concentrate on getting old? 

It has given me a really constructive view of getting old. Most individuals I do know say they do not need to age or they’re afraid of getting old, and what we hear from our centenarians is that additionally they had been afraid of getting old, however then they reached age 100 and so they discovered that they really loved it.

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I feel seeing individuals at age 100 who’re having fun with life and doing the issues they need to do and who nonetheless love studying is basically eye-opening. Centenarians additionally simply have a lot knowledge, and to really converse with one is known as a present.

What’s subsequent for the centenarian research? 

Our research has proven that centenarians attain their excessive ages as a result of they’re, on common, very wholesome agers. And now we’re making an attempt to delve into the organic mechanisms underlying that, in addition to well being behaviors and environmental components which may assist them age so nicely.