There will be up to 6 million centenarians in the world by the middle of this century! According to Dr. Walter M. Bortz II and Randall Stickrod, most of these centenarians will be healthy, functional and largely independent.
The Roadmap to 100, Bortz and Stickrod’s new book, utilizes new science and a thirty-year longitudinal study of centenarians and finds that:
- genetics play a smaller role in aging than previously thought
- senility, dementia, and other diseases of the elderly, are largely preventable (and not an inevitable consequence of aging)
- engagment, through sexual relationships, SOCIAL INTERACTION, and professional activity, is a KEY FACTOR in long, healthy lives
- physical fitness can recover at least 30 years of aging
At Engage As You Age we’re not at all surprised by their finding that social interaction for seniors is a key factor in living a longer and healthier life. Go to our website if you’d like to learn more about our social visits for seniors and also for more studies that highlight the benefits of social engagement for elders.
Bortz, the former co-chairman of the American Medical Association’s Task Force on Aging has also presided over the American Geriatric Society and published the book Dare to Be 100. In fact, Bortz is a great example of a senior engaging as they age. He recently ran his 40th marathon at the age of 80! His co-writer, Stickrod, is the founding executive publisher of Wired magazine.
The Roadmap to 100 recommends a steady diet of exercise and social engagement to make it to 100. They stress that while exercise can help you live longer, it is social engagement that allows you to live well. They find that meaningful relationships and a sense of purpose are common factors amongst centenarians.
Go to the LA Times for a more detailed book review or go to Amazon.com to buy a copy.
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area you can go to Engage As You Age’s website to connect your mother, father, aunt, uncle or partner to someone that shares their passions.
One Comment
So true. I read the book. Engagement also helps reduce stress, since you become part of the flow of life. The point is to live robustly to 100, so that you can get and give the most that life has to offer.