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April 21, 1998
PERSONAL HEALTH
Grand Examples of the Right Stuff for Aging Well
n many ways, Mary Elizabeth is your average late
20th-century elderly American.
Widowed at 51 with seven children then aged 7 through 21,
she began working part
time at her alma mater and worked her way up to become the
college's alumni director,
finally retiring at 78.
Her thin, frail appearance belies her stamina. At 80, she
bounced back from a hysterectomy
faster than women half her age. At 81, she helped a daughter
dig her car out after a blizzard
buried it in two feet of snow and ice. No matter what the
circumstances, she laughs readily
and has a smile and cheerful word for neighbors and passers-by.
Now nearly 83, Mary Elizabeth lives alone in a three-story
Brooklyn brownstone. She
keeps her house neat and her stoop and sidewalk spotless,
goes to lectures with a friend,
attends church every Sunday, drives a car, visits a
critically ill sister almost daily,
entertains visiting children and grandchildren, reads a
newspaper every day, gets her
exercise by walking and climbing stairs, takes supplements of
vitamin E and selenium and
fixes nutritious meals for herself.
Prescription for Aging Well
hat is Mary Elizabeth's secret to aging
successfully? Dr. John W. Rowe and
Dr. Robert L. Kahn, authors of an important new
book, "Successful Aging"
(Pantheon, $24.95), would say she is a can-do person
with strong self-esteem
who remains involved with people and events that support her
emotionally, stimulate her
mind and exercise her body.
The book is a distillation of 10 years of research among
thousands of older people by 16
scientists under the aegis of the MacArthur Foundation. When
those aging successfully
were asked their secret, many replied, "Just keep on going."
The authors concluded, "It is
this forward-looking, active engagement with life and with
other human beings that is so
critical to growing old well."
They caution well-meaning friends and relatives against doing
too much for older people
since taking over tasks that the elderly can do for
themselves is belittling. It undermines
self-esteem, leads to "learned helplessness" and increases
dependence.
When given a highly stressful test involving simulated
driving, those with high self-esteem
performed better and produced lower levels of stress
hormones, said Dr. Rowe, a
gerontologist and president of Mount Sinai School of Medicine
and Mount Sinai Hospital
in New York. "This was a clear-cut demonstration of the
mind-body connection," Dr.
Rowe said.
The researchers found found it was important for older people
to remain productive and for
younger people to appreciate their contributions. Being
productive can mean part-time
employment, unpaid work, volunteer activities, taking care of
children or the infirm and all
manner of household projects, from knitting and gardening to
woodcutting.
Of course, healthy habits play a major role in successful
aging. The authors lament that
society incorrectly equates "usual" aging with "normal"
aging, stating that "people often
blame aging for losses that are in fact caused by life style
-- overeating and poor nutrition,
smoking, excessive use of alcohol, lack of regular exercise
and insufficient mental
exertion." The researchers found that such factors determine
70 percent of the mental and
physical attributes of people 65 to 75 and nearly all the age
characteristics of those over 80.
Their overriding conclusion: "You are responsible for your
own old age."
Critical Role of Exercise
here has perhaps never been a more ringing endorsement
of the benefits to body
and mind of regular physical exercise than was derived
from the MacArthur
studies. "Physical activity is at the crux of
successful aging, regardless of other
factors," the authors stated emphatically.
The studies found that even among smokers and those with high
blood pressure, older
people who are physically fit are "at lower risk of death
than nonsmokers with normal
blood pressures who are couch potatoes."
Exercise can also reduce the risk of diabetes, arthritis and
cancers of the breast, uterus and
colon. At any age, it can enhance overall stamina, increase
stability and decrease the risk of
falls and counter depression.
"The frailty of old age is largely reversible," the authors
wrote, adding that it was never too
late to start. The MacArthur studies showed that very old
people, even those in their 90's
who never exercised before, can become more physically fit
and, as a result, function
better and live longer and better, even if they have health
problems or bad habits.
"Couch potatoes are now being grouped with cigarette smokers
as taking their lives into
their own hands," the authors wrote. In trying to encourage
the currently sedentary, they
noted: "The more frequent the exercise, the greater the
benefit, but you don't have to
overdo it. Moderate exercise such as bowling, golf, light
sports, gardening, walking and
the like proved to be nearly as protective as vigorous exercise."
Perhaps least often recognized are the immediate benefits of
exercise to emotional
well-being and mental sharpness, especially for those who
work out with others.
As Dr. Rowe said in an interview: "We've learned that
isolation is bad. Social interaction
and exercise feed on each other. Especially in men, emotional
support -- providing
you-can-do-it encouragement -- is an important predictor of
getting men to exercise and to
maintain their physical fitness."
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Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company
Regards,
Ken Aidekman
Fund the Research. Find the Cure.
