Keys to healthy aging - Page 4

jubilant · ‎06-10-2010

@Harpa wrote:
What about a healthy spiritual component? I guess that falls under brain workouts, since it requires faith. (Faith and reason seems to be a dichotomy, but not to me.) It sure relieves the stress, as does each of those major categories.

************ I agree. When I got married and had children I still had 5 generations alive on both sides of the family. They were all people of faith. Several were quiet and didn't speak of it much and others said thankful prayers and expressed their hope. My parents are 88 and 89 this year. Whether it's due to their faith or good genes....well....who knows??? Dad is feeble now. He has vascular dementia but his prayers are still beautiful and full of hope....if not for himself that day.....for others.

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

@ROMARY wrote:
Knowing and meeting many other folks' doctors throughout the years, all of them (so far) (surprisingly to me) said 'genes'. Not 'this', not 'that', but 'genes'. So, genes must have at least something to do with it, I guess. ................................Also, this must be why I have confidence that the future will bring good news regarding the study of genes, and possibly re-arranging those genes, and whatever else can be done with and to them ahead of time. The possibilities are endless, in my mind.

@ROMARY

In me 2 rounds of 36 Cardiac Rehab Classes, there were many in those classes that learned about my lifestyle, and several even asked in some of the classes. They would ask me and whomever was giving the classes, be they Cardiologists/Pulmonologist or our Exercise Physiologist.

"John here is thin/vegetarian(not vegan)/doesn't smoke/ drink/use drugs/runs miles and Ref in ice hockey. He had a heart attack(2 depending on the round). He still had a heart attack while doing all the right things".

If someone lives that type of lifestyle, why do they still have heart attacks? When someone asked me my real short answer was "I didn't get to pick my mother". I have talked about on this forum more than many want to read.

Of course genetics are a factor and that has been known, by myself anyway, back in the early 1960's. That is when I began changing my lifestyle, for the better. It was done 1 Major Risk Factor at a time. Very few, if any, were by tapering. For me it was/is: "you either do this or do not do this, no in-between or tapering". I knew very soon that was the best and only way for me to succeed, long term(rest of my life).

I however am not one to place genetic predisposition as the cause of everything that some cannot seem to control in their lives. The "I'm fat/I smoke/I drink/I gamble", an on and on and on, blaming every relative they ever heard of, but never their own lifestyles.

The only things I hope happen with genetic changes in the future, are nothing that lifestyle can change, or make years of good life possible for the many. Cancer and other types of diseases that cannot be changed or helped by how a person chooses to live their Physical/Mental and Spiritual Lives.

Gene altering already, in my opinion, has gone further than I want to see, in many aspects of some lives. Will refrain from mentioning them for the sake of making this thread go off the type of script of its title.

hckynut(john)

QueenDanceALot · ‎04-18-2013

@qvcaddition wrote:
I will be 81 in June. I have excersised for 58 years. I still do at the gym, plus walk five mikes a day. Last week, I rounded 17 bushes, took three days using an edger, then another to trim and top two Italian cypress trees. Monday a big Bush against the garage. I take care of my back and front yards and all 36 rose trees and bushes. I do my own house cleaning, six rooms and two bathrooms.

I volunteer all year. Tomorrow I am giving tours for four hours. My DR. thinks I should give lecturer for retires. I just have a lot of energy. I went to college and graduated at age 72. Loved it. I gave the graduation speech titled"NO AGE LIMIT". Also received a scholarship. I keep busy, social, and positive. Each day is a blessing. I refuse to stay around negative, complaining people. I also like to hang with people who stay current, so I can learn from them.

I grew up poor, so the part of the article that said smaller brains in people of poverty is misleading. You can learn if you desire. I,m from the generation that worked hard without parents able to give us everything. We had to think and be creative.

I have a 91 year old friend that goes to the gym everyday, is strong and not feeble, no dementia. I have a 88 year old friend in poor health and dementia. I think the difference is exercise. The 91 is positive, while the 88 is always complaining. The 91 and her husband who is 86, do all their own yard work and even clean their pool. She does her own housecleaning. She got breast cancer at age 85 and this year going on six years cAncer free. She always remained positive and kept exercising.

Sorry for the long spiel, but age is a number.

YOU are an inspiration to all!

(And so is your 91 year old friend!)

123SuzyQ123 · ‎03-09-2010

My father-in-law lived to be 104. He was still sharp as a tack and knew everyone's name, etc., up until he turned 102. He slowly went downhill from 102 to 104, but was still spry and active in his senior home.

Currently, one of my family member is now 83 and he still walks 2 miles a day and stays very active. Another family member is only 53, but he barely does a thing all day except write and play on his notebook computer!

I am learning a lot from all these family members as to which way I personally want to go, now that age 69 is creeping up on me!!

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

@123SuzyQ123

While I see "no age as being too late", I am also a believer in "the sooner the better". By ones late 60's, their body's are not capable of doing the things they could have made "built-in" leading up to that age.

Just like gravity takes its toll, so do the spine/muscles/connective tissues,, and of course, the brain. Preservation is possible, to a certain degree. However when decades have past, so have certain opportunities.

As I said earlier, it is never too late to start improving ones body and mind, but a person has to recognize what can be and cannot be accomplishes starting at a more advanced number of decades.

hckynut(john)

Moonchilde · ‎05-23-2010

@Trinity11 wrote:
From what I have seen of the aging process a lot of it is pure unadulterated LUCK. Some people do it all wrong and end up living into their 90's and some people do it all right and end up dying fairly young through no fault of their own.

Yes, staying active and having friends does help and certainly keeping one's mind active helps but even with all of those advantages some people succumb to health issues through no fault of their own and that needs to be said.

And then there is DNA and genes - which largely explains the "do it all right" people who succumb.

My mother was never physically active (she wasn't especially INactive, but not active). She didn't do anything special to exercise her mind, ever. Her attitude most of her life was not Miss Sunnyface. With multiple ailments and a spine literally crumbling, she was largely in a wheelchair the last 3 years of her life. She had (and wanted) little social life. She died a few months short of age 95, "doing it all wrong" and she was, if not mentally sharp as a tack at her death, then pretty darn close to it.

Life without Mexican food is no life at all