How to Look and Act Decades Younger

There are many times when our job, caring for elderly folks, is enlightening and fun. We recently began to assist a lovely lady with her postoperative care. The minute each caregiver had the pleasure of meeting this remarkable lady, A C, the disagreements began…”She looks not a day older than 60…No, she looks 55, No, maybe 70…No, younger.”

AC is an 81-year old beauty. A widow with a wonderful supportive family and many friends. And yes, one would NEVER guess her chronological age.

We all asked her secrets. Ever humble and modest, she talked about a life of enjoying movement, walking, regular golf and tennis (Tennis!! ) She is still a mean doubles player though she avoids the net due to her height. She is a regular vitamin taker and a healthy eater. She drinks tons of water daily. And her recovery from major surgery is remarkable for a person of any age.

This article, from the Boston Globe confirms with scientific evidence that the lifestyle she has adopted over the past several decades has indeed served her well.

It is important, doctors say, to not wait to start taking care of you. Diseases that strike in the 70s and 80s often start to develop decades earlier. The good news is the same regimen that helps your heart also benefits your brain, mood, metabolism, and even skin. Aging gracefully isn’t rocket science. It just requires energy, stamina, and motivation.

Exercise is essential

Aging is much kinder to the fit body, doctor’s say. Exercise not only reduces the risk of heart disease, but also of stroke and dementia.

Beginning at 40, everyone should exercise at least three to four days a week, for at least 45 minutes at a time, said Massachusetts General Hospital cardiologist Melissa J. Wood. Any exercise that gets your heart rate up, including brisk including brisk walking, is helpful, she said.

“Regular physical exercise can take years off the behavior of the heart muscle,’’ Wood said, “and make it much more like the heart of a younger person.’’

Aerobic exercise also increases blood flow to the brain, said Dr. Marie Pasinski, a staff neurologist at Mass. General. Starve the brain of oxygen and nutrients with clogged blood vessels, and the risk of dementia, stroke, and heart disease soars, said Pasinski. Left untreated, such high blood pressure can shrink the brain.

Even those who don’t start until their 70s can see benefits. “If you’re not fit now,’’ Wood said, “it’s a great time to become fit.’’

Eat food, not pills

Nutritionists are nearly unanimous that a Mediterranean diet of fruits, vegetables, and fat from olive oil rather than butter is best.

Treating yourself to steak or fries once a week is OK, said Dr. Suzanne E. Salamon, associate chief for clinical geriatrics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, but eat them only in moderation.

Far better for you: blueberries, salmon, nuts, and other sources of Omega 3 fatty acids and antioxidants, which, among other benefits, delay wrinkles. “Diet and exercise is probably one of the best forms of cosmetic care that’s out there,’’ said Wood, the cardiologist.

Taking 1,000 mg of calcium and 1,000 international units of vitamin D daily. Low-fat milk and yogurt are great sources of both. Fish is also high in vitamin D.

If you can’t stand fish or milk products, take nutritional supplements, doctors said. But it’s better to get vitamins and nutrients from food. “To me,’’ Pasinski said, “it

Get mental health in order

Wood tells her aging patients to reduce stress, even if it means changing jobs to escape a degrading boss, or telling an adult child it’s time to grow up.

“Stress hormones cause blood pressure and heart rate to go up, and cause you to deposit fat in bad parts of the body,’’ Wood said. Stress also pushes people to make unhealthy choices, such as smoking, drinking, laying around the house, and not managing prescriptions. (cont’d pg 6)

Change the things you can control, Wood advises, and it will help you feel better about the ones you can’t. And, she added, “If you have better physical health you’re more resilient to the things you can’t change.’’

Sleep early and often

Sleep is when the brain repairs itself. Sleep deprivation has been linked to problems from obesity to depression to dementia. “Whenever I see someone coming to me about memory problems,’’ said Pasinski, “I ask them about sleep.’’

Though it may become harder to sleep for long periods, as people get older, taking afternoon naps can help make up for a short night’s sleep, said Salamon, the geriatrician.

Instead of medications, she recommends a cup of chamomile tea to help with sleep — but not too close to bedtime, to avoid late-night trips to the bathroom.

The big picture

Increasingly, studies find that all these factors are interrelated. You don’t have to follow one routine for your heart and another for your brain. The same stuff works on both.

Dr. Wei Zheng, director of Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center at Vanderbilt University, recently published a study showing that middle-aged Chinese women who had four or five healthy lifestyle factors — normal weight, low belly fat, regular exercise, limited exposure to second hand cigarette smoke, and high consumption of fruits and vegetables — had a 43 percent lower risk of death than women with none of those factors.

“Each single factor, if you look at it by itself, contributes somewhat,’’ said Zheng. “But when you combine them, you see a pretty dramatic eff ect.’’■

http://www.boston.com/business/healthcare/articles/2010/10/31/aging_gracefully/