Both Henry Rossen and Opie Evans of Akron landed the ultimate cosmic bonus: an extra 20 or so years of robust life. Here’s how:
Rossen, 98, rises at 7 every morning, exercises for an hour and sticks to a low-fat diet heavy on fish and chicken.
“And I chose my parents well,” Rossen said, explaining that his mother lived to 94, and his father died in his late 80s–because of an accident.
But Evans, 91, has a different story. He sleeps late most mornings, then eats a brunch of ham and eggs, or fried chicken and gravy. He doesn’t exercise on a regular basis. “I don’t believe in this,” Evans said, flapping his arms. As for the family genes–Evans said nearly everyone in his family died before age 60.
There’s no magic formula to achieve robust old age, but it’s happening more often.
In the last 10 to 15 years, scientists have grown more interested in studying people 85 or older, with good reason: Their numbers are growing.
The 85-plus population is the fastest growing segment in the nation.
And new findings suggest that the very old may feel better than those in previous generations.
“Very recent research shows the person who is hitting 80 today is healthier than the person hitting 80, 20 years ago,” said Marcia Ory, who directs the National Institute on Aging’s Social Science Research on Aging Program.
Ory, a medical sociologist, added that robust men in their 90s offer the rest of us a glimpse of the future.
Right now, little is known about this group: Researchers traditionally have studied very old women, Ory said, as there were comparatively few men that lived until very old age. But as the overall population of the very old increases, so will the number of men.
In other words, men such as Rossen and Evans likely will be more common in the next millennium, so what makes them tick is important.
“They are on the vanguard, they’re kind of pioneers,” Ory said.
When Rossen was 95, he traveled around the world with a lady friend. In his late 80s, Evans volunteered as an AIDS educator, and last fall, achieved his dream of finally singing a church solo.
“Badly,” he admitted.
Another Akron man in his late 90s, Ken Shahady, drives himself to the gym to swim several times a week. (Shahady won’t reveal his exact age because he doesn’t want to be stereotyped as old.)
Researchers still haven’t pinpointed the main reason that men and women are living longer.
“It’s the $400 million question,” she said.
Depending on the individual, the relationship of genetics and lifestyle plays out differently, said Leonard Poon, a University of Georgia psychologist who directs the 8-year-old Georgia Centenarian Study, the nation’s largest research project of its kind.
While there are definite, recognized health risk factors such as smoking, that doesn’t mean that everyone who doesn’t smoke will live a long life, or that someone who smokes will die young.
“There are exceptions in all cases,” said James Fozard, a psychologist who directs Longitudinal Studies at the National Institute of Aging.
As Opie Evans illustrates, coming from a family of short-lived people doesn’t mean that an individual also will die young.
Early findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study show that having a family pattern of longevity isn’t the main key to long life.
And diet isn’t the only factor, either. While new National Institute of Aging research suggests that a very low-calorie diet promotes longevity–at least in rats–the Georgia researchers haven’t found that pattern in centenarians.
While the Georgia centenarians tend to eat more vegetables than the average person and have higher levels of vitamin A, the majority of the 80 subjects enjoy a wide variety of foods–the same diet they ate all of their lives–and many also drink alcohol.
For several Akron men in their 90s, diet worries are something other people have–they’re too busy enjoying themselves. Some swear by the habit of having a drink every night. And while none of the men is significantly overweight–obesity is a risk factor–only Henry Rossen makes a conscious effort to eat a low-fat diet.
Shahady, a former restaurant chef, refuses to eat anything low cal or low-fat. For breakfast, he prefers eggs, toast and cream cheese or cereal with half-and-half.
He prefaces supper with a shot of whiskey and often punctuates it with a dish of ice cream–not frozen yogurt.
Another Akron resident, Charles Walker, 92, considers himself a gourmet who also likes to snack in the middle of the night on Hershey bars, chips and peanut butter.
William McReynolds is another example of someone who eats what he wants, when he wants. The 93-year-old former hotel bell captain eats a lot of vegetables, but also fatty macaroni and cheese and his special homemade sweet potato pie.
“I like steak,” he added. He also smokes cigars and enjoys a drink each night before dinner.
The men say they are often asked for the secret to their longevity.
They don’t know.
Poon said most of those with long lives say the same thing.
“People are looking for simple answers,” Poon said.
While there are no Ten Commandments for living long, Ory said that the robust old do appear to have similar patterns of beliefs and attitudes.
For one thing, having social connections is important, Ory said.
