Living the good life

Wall Street Journal -  More than half of American adults suffer from at least one chronic illness—most commonly diabetes, heart disease, cancer or neurodegeneration. By age 65, 80% are afflicted with two or more conditions. Among those fortunate enough to reach 80, it’s rare to find anyone who has arrived unscathed. In 2008 a group of scientists at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego set out to recruit 1,400 of these healthy souls—known as the Wellderly—to figure out how they managed it

Led by the cardiologist Eric Topol, the researchers hoped to identify the genetic factors associated with healthy aging. To their surprise, they found little in the DNA that stood out. They did, however, notice several striking traits. Compared with their peers, the disease-free subjects were generally thinner, exercised more frequently and seemed “remarkably upbeat,” often with rich social lives. These observations encouraged the research team to think about longevity (years of life) and healthspan (years of health) more broadly. In “Super Agers” Dr. Topol shares the results of this intellectual exploration...

“Nothing surpasses regular exercise for promotion of healthy aging,” Dr. Topol writes, calling it “the single most effective medical intervention that we know.” If you came up with a drug that delivered all the health benefits of exercise, he says, “it would be considered a miracle breakthrough.” Happily, it’s never too late to start. Consider Richard Morgan, an Irishman in his 90s, who took up regular exercise for the first time in his 70s when he started using a rowing machine in his backyard shed. Mr. Morgan has since won four world championships for indoor rowing.

Healthy eating and a good night’s sleep are also crucial. While the “evidence remains thin for what constitutes the best healthy diet,” Dr. Topol writes, we have a better sense of what it doesn’t contain: ultraprocessed foods (like hot dogs and snack cakes) that induce systemic inflammation and increase your risks for developing all the major age-related diseases.

One expert has called the sleep-loss epidemic “the greatest public health challenge we face in the twenty-first century.” Seven hours a night seems to be the elusive ideal, but the data supporting popular fixes such as melatonin or magnesium, or beds that modulate temperature, is underwhelming. Other hazards to beware include environmental contaminants such as air pollution and microplastics, as well as the harms associated with loneliness and social isolation. Dr. Topol writes that spending time in nature can bring “diverse health benefits” and that music, optimism, hobbies and human touch all promote healthy aging.

Expensive new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound, Dr. Topol writes, have “extraordinary potential to promote health span.” In addition to stanching appetite, these drugs also seem to rapidly reduce harmful inflammation—an effect that “precedes and is independent of weight loss.” In the future, the author believes it’s “conceivable that most people will be taking” such medications, though he worries about the lifetime commitment they require, as well as the social inequities the pricey products are likely to exacerbate. MORE