By Sue Pondrom, Independent Journalist
There's more than one recipe for becoming a superager, including well-known ingredients such as environmental and behavioral aspects, as well as research into the genetics and brain anatomy that enhances healthy aging. These many aspects were discussed in a session about "What can we learn from superagers" presented on April 24 at Health Journalism 2010. Superagers were defined as those individuals age 85 and older.
Barbara Hawkins, Ph.D., a professor in the Recreation, Park and Tourism Studies Department at Indiana University has conducted a study of more than 600 individuals age 85 and older across the United States. In these superagers she has found that living a long and healthy life is "all about your lifestyle – how you live every day life." She said superagers have a passion they pursue with an outlook that is empowering.
"Have something that turns you on," she said. "A life without passion is a recipe for a short life."
Hawkins said aging is not pathology and most definitely not something you can "fix" with new body parts or cosmetic surgery. "Make living well your top priority," she noted.
In describing her research approach to superaging, Emily Rogalski, Ph.D., assistant professor, Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, discussed preliminary data in a study of brain function in superagers. "We used to think that dementia and senility were a normal part of aging, but that's not true," she said.
The individuals over age 80 that her group is studing include those with cognitive memory performance equal to a 50 year old, cognitive memory that has been stable for at least three years, andd life achievment that has been attained in his or her 80s The team is looking at neuropsychiatric profiles (judgement, intelligence, verbal fluency, attention, etc.) and have found that not all superagers are the same. They can vary in different areas. Additionally, they've studied neuroanatomy and have noted that even when there may be deficits in functional parts of the brain, superagers are able to compensate. She showed an MRI enhanced with software called FreeSurfer. With this data they've been able to estimate the thickness of grey matter to illustrate brain atrophy and have found cortical thickening in suuperagers. A final part of their study is neuropathology. While individuals with Alzheimer's are known to have telltale plaques and tangles, superagers have much fewer of this pathology than normal, non-demented controls. "But, some superagers were found to have tangles," she noted. "Yet, they were able to compensate somehow for this."
For years, many have wondered about the role genetics play in successful aging. One of those researchers studying this is Michael Province, Ph.D., professor and director, Division of Statistical Genomics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. In his team's search for common longevity genes, he said it's like looking for the needle in a haystack of 32 billion base pairs in the human genome. None the less, his Long Life Family Study, being conducted with about 5,000 subjects (two generations of 539 families) in Boston, New York, Pittsburgh and Denmark, is gathering what data it can.
"We've found people with exceptionaL longevity," he said. In the process, the team has designated "good" genes that appear to be preventive, and "bad" genes. While "ordinary" people have a mix, the researchers found that superagers have an abundance of good genes. The researchers noted a slower rate of aging and a later onset of decline with conditions such as diabetes and heart dissease.
The next phase of their study will include a full genome study and sequencing of individual genes within families.
A How-To List
A handout from Hawkins included a list of the components of a positive lifestyle, including:
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Have a strong sense of purpose
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Be good to your body by maintaining healthy weight, eating "real" foods like plants, and maintaining physically active lives
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Attend to brain fitness by staying active mentally
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Cultivate emotional fitness through positive emotions; take life's ups and downs in stride
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Get good rest and sleep
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Stay connected socially with a focus on family and friends for support and sense of purpose
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Connect with something beyond yourself, such as a common history and culture and/or a spiritual side
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Recognize that looking older is optional. Looking good and sexy is not just for young people
