It’s a matter of attitude and engagement, according to the old folks.
Your correspondent is always amused by the predictability of mainstream media when it comes to the question of ageing.
Whenever some fortunate chap or lady turns 100, the question is always asked of them: “What is the secret to your long life?”
The answers are usually a combination of keeping active, eating healthily and not worrying too much about things.
Just once, I’d like the reply to be: “Not getting cancer, or heart disease, or dementia.”
Having said that, my own great-aunt Lill did produce a wildcard when she cracked the century mark by telling the local reporter her secret was having “a large glass of gin and a single cigarette after her evening meal”.
In a bid to bring a bit more science to the issue of “super-ageing”, Australia’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing recently commissioned research by the universities of NSW and Sydney to get a more in-depth view of the opinions of older folk on what keeps them ticking.
The results were published this week in the journal, Activities, Adaptation & Aging, and interestingly the perspectives of those interviewed differed somewhat from the existing literature.
The research team conducted interviews and focus groups with 39 Australian community members aged between 65 and 101 living independently and without cognitive symptoms or a diagnosis of dementia.
The study participants were then asked to identify a number of key elements of super-ageing including high levels of activity – both physical and mental, ability, health and social engagement.
What they found was that while previous literature stressed cognitive abilities as the key factor in longevity, the research participants also highlighted the importance of “attitude”, “functional independence” and “participation in the community” as being relevant.
Attitude was considered particularly important because it was linked with the “motivation to seek out new experiences and activities, to maintain good health and adapt to challenging circumstances”.
“Super-ageing is not something that can be achieved or maintained by all older individuals but a better understanding of the characteristics of such an exceptional group may provide clues as to how individuals and societies age successfully,” geriatrician Dr Alice Powell, who led the study team, told media.
“Our participants’ identification of individual attitudes as modifiable drivers of activity and behaviour and the importance of continued engagement within the community also warrant further investigation,” Dr Powell said.
Future research might focus on concepts of physical and social super-ageing and how these related to high level cognitive abilities, she added.
In the interests of full disclosure, your correspondent descends from long lines of super-agers on the maternal side and short-lifers on the paternal side.
So if we’re not around to write next Thursday’s Back Page, it just may be we’ve struck out on an average between the two.
Send life-extending story tips to penny@medicalrepublic.com.au.
