Instead of focusing on our “life span,” Dr. Eric Topol, a leading longevity researcher and cardiologist wants us to turn our attention to “health span.” He hopes his recent book, “Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity,” will move that conversation forward.“We're not talking about longevity really, even though that's in the title, we're really talking about health span, which is the number of years with freedom from the big three age related diseases (cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative),” he said in “A Health Podyssey” interview.
Topol roughly defines a super-ager as someone over age 85 who's never had cancer, heart disease or any sign of neurodegenerative disease, though some super agers successfully manage those diseases.
And while genes do play a role, Topol thinks it’s been “overestimated. It's much more the things that are, as we know, these critical lifestyle behavioral factors that play such an essential role.”
Topol says the 7 habits he follows for healthy aging (he’s 71) are:
French yoga teacher Charlotte Chopin was recently featured in The New York Times. She’s 102 years old.
Writes reporter Danielle Friedman:
“Ms. Chopin didn’t try yoga until she was 50, at the encouragement of a friend as a break from housework. She started teaching a decade later, to avoid boredom when she moved to her small town. When I asked what yoga offered her, she answered, simply, ‘serenity.’”
Charlotte starts her day with coffee, toast with butter and honey or jam and sometimes a spoonful of jelly by itself and teaches three yoga classes a week. She says “the thing that has sustained her the most, both in her yoga practice and her life, are her students, and the social support they provide.”
Closer to home are 103-year-old Dr. Howard Tucker, the world’s oldest practicing physician who continues to teach at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, and Albert Ratner, renowned Cleveland philanthropist and community leader approaching his centennial. They were featured in a panel discussion this week at the Maltz Museum entitled “Longevity and Purpose: Keys for Living to 100 and Beyond” and moderated by Dr. Michael Roizen, Chief Wellness Officer Emeritus at Cleveland Clinic and leading expert on aging and longevity.
According to the Maltz Museum:
Dr. Tucker credits his exceptional longevity to more than just genetics. He points to regular exercise, intellectual curiosity, humor, and most significantly, a complete refusal to hate. His philosophy is simple but profound: Don’t smoke. Don’t hate. And don’t retire unless you absolutely have to.
Albert Ratner will share his approach to longevity centered on what he calls the “3 P’s”: Purpose, Playfulness, and Posse. He emphasizes that having a reason to get up each morning is essential to thriving in later years. His outlook focuses on helping others and staying engaged: when you ask, “What can I do to help you?” it not only serves others but makes your own challenges feel lighter.
Don Parker (photographed above) retired from a medical practice 26 years ago, but most of the following factors have been interwoven throughout his professional life.
“At 91 I have outlived all my relatives except for one aunt on my mother’s side. I feel in good health, in spite of being a cancer survivor of two major cancers plus several skin cancers. I had recurrent atrial fibrillation that was successfully eliminated, and I have been getting regular injections in both eyes to control macular degeneration. That said, I still read a fair amount, often two books at a time (a non-fiction and a fiction).
I started running in my 30s for exercise and have continued throughout my life. Currently I walk and/or do intermittent jogging most days, do strength training sessions twice a week, swim once a week and play pickleball twice a week. I’ve always tried to eat a healthful diet and for the last five years have followed a “planetarian” diet (what’s good for me and good for the planet), mostly vegetarian with some fish and chicken.
I sleep nine hours a night (soundly) and take a 30-minute nap after lunch. I value my friendships and sense of community at Kendal.
But most of all, I believe my marriage is the major reason for my sense of life satisfaction. Joyce is not only my marriage partner, she’s my best friend and confidant. She keeps me grounded in the core values we espouse: compassion, non-violence, integrity and service. Our children have become beloved adult friends and bring us joy as a family.
I have a strong creative drive, painting (predominantly watercolor), writing short stories, essays, poems and one-act plays (25 to date, 14 having been performed at Kendal), singing in the Kendal choir and playing percussion in The Occasional Band. I enjoy gardening (former Ohio Master Gardener), designing and installing five community gardens at Kendal. Music and being outdoors in nature bring relaxation and comfort and often renew my creative energy.
I have a positive attitude (I call myself an optimistic realist) and seldom if ever feel depressed. I deal with stress by trying to stay true to my values, many of which come from my Christian upbringing.
I have served on the national board of our church denomination (two years as chair) and on the Board of Directors of IMA World Health (two years as chair). I have volunteered in medical missions in Central America and the Caribbean and since coming to Kendal I’ve served on Kendal at Oberlin’s Residents Association Council and a number of committees (currently four) and volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank monthly.”
Marian M. Thomas describes herself as a healthy and active 86-year-old who aims to live to 104 – her mother reached 99.
“My positive outlook on life was formed by the unconditional love my family gave me. Mutual love continues with my grown children. My parents encouraged an adventurous spirit.
In high school I lived with a family in England through The Experiment in International Living. While at Oberlin College, I spent a summer volunteering with a group of American and International college students on the Navajo Indian Reservation. More adventures followed in Korea, where I worked in “campus ministry” on several college campuses. Upon returning I married fellow Obie Tim Thomas. The next summer we tutored Black children in Virginia who would enter newly integrated public schools in 1964.
Because my husband was a polio survivor, I did a great deal of yard work which contributed to my good health. I gave birth to two healthy boys, and because I wanted a daughter, we adopted a Korean orphan in 1976. I taught preschool music for 32 years, and piano lessons for even more years, and was a choir director and organist. My life was very busy and fulfilling.
I moved to Kendal last year and began learning two new skills involving physical coordination: English Country Dancing and playing hand bells, which were both challenging and enjoyable. I am also using my professional musical skills: playing for memorial services at Kendal, teaching music to children in Kendal Early Learning Center, singing in the Kendal Choir and The First Church in Oberlin (UCC) choir, and accompanying various musicians on piano. Within two months of arriving, I performed on the harpsichord I brought with me and have given a dozen “cottage concerts.”
At Kendal I found others who were interested in creating a labyrinth and we accomplished that within a year. It is wheelchair and rollator accessible and is located within a courtyard in the Stephens Care Center (photographed below, Marian along with another Kendal at Oberlin resident walking the Greenleaf Labyrinth).
Since 2000 I have found the practice of daily meditation an essential way to maintain balance in my mental and emotional life. Writing helps me process events and gives perspective on my life. I have 64 personal journals and 22 “spiritual journals,” and hope to incorporate some of my experiences and reflections on them in a memoir I tentatively call “Evidences of Love.”
Kendal at Oberlin, where life is lived with vitality as well as thoughtfulness, is the perfect place for me to enjoy the perspective I have gained by living a long time and to share music with others.”