8 simple habits to help you live longer
Miscellaneous / / November 28, 2021
Only scientifically sound advice.
It seems a little suspicious that adhering to certain habits can significantly prolong life. However, biologist Andrew Steele, the author of the list, is a true professional in matters of immortality. He studied hundreds of scientific studies to understand why people age and how to stop it.
The result of his work was his first book - "Immortals. Why hydras and jellyfish live forever, and how people learn their secret. With permission from Bombora, Lifehacker publishes an excerpt from Chapter Ten.
1. No smoking
Smoking is terribly harmful. If you want to live a long life in good health but smoke, the first thing you should do is quit this addiction.
For lifelong smokers its duration is reduced by about 10 years. Smokers can't evenPrabhat Jha, 'Avoidable global cancer deaths and total deaths from smoking', Nat. Rev. Cancer 9, 655–64 (2009) claim to live fast and die young “Live fast, die young” is the unofficial slogan of some representatives of rock music and punk subculture. The attitude, according to which one should live a bright, eventful, but short life and die young. . At the end of their life, they face about the same number of years of illness as non-smokers, that is, they spend most of their shorter life in poorer health.
Smoking - the cause of 90% of cases of lung cancer and almost half of deaths from lung diseases. Although the lungs take the brunt of the blow from cigarettes, there is reasonable evidence that smoking generally accelerates the aging process. It increases the risk of many other cancers, as well as other diseases of the elderly, such as heart disease, stroke, and dementia.
Smokers even look older: cigarettes cause thinning of the skin, wrinkles, gray hair and baldness.
Cigarette smoke contains hundreds of toxic chemicals that cause mutations in the genome. In DNA they leaveKenichi Yoshida et al., 'Tobacco smoking and somatic mutations in human bronchial epithelium', Nature 578, 266–72 (2020) specific "mutational signature" of cancers in the mucous membrane of the lungs of smokers. For example, C can transform into A. This and other mutational signatures are found in tissues throughout the smoker's body because chemicals are absorbed into the bloodstream, so they affect more than just the lungs.
These additional changes give the cancer a much better chance, forcing the sequence of clonal expansions to proceed faster and increasing the risk of developing the disease.
Smoking causes chronic inflammation, which is thought to be behind the associated rise in cardiovascular disease. remember, that atherosclerotic plaques are mostly made up of dying immune cells - stimulating the immune system speeds up their formation.
Smoking also causes cell aging, shortens telomeres, and even stimulates the production of AGEs (glycation end products, which are formed when sugars react with proteins) in tissues, in part due to highly reactive chemicals in tobacco smoke […].
2. Do not overeat
No wonder what you eat can haveLukas Schwingshackl et al., 'Food groups and risk of all-cause mortality: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies', Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 105, 1462–73 (2017) significant impact on life expectancy. A balanced diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts is very important and can significantly increase overall life expectancy and the healthy portion of it. It is extremely difficult to determine which combination of products is optimal, so there is a lot of controversy.
An ideal experiment in which thousands of people would be randomized into groups relative to the number of different foods they have eaten for several decades would be impractical, extremely expensive, and likely unethical. So scientists can only speculate based on observational studies. And, since people's eating habits are associated with their wealth, social status, general interest in health and genetics, which also affect life expectancy, it is very difficult to distinguish between cause and effect.
As a result, the best advice is probably this: eat a large number of different healthy foods, without giving preference to one or the other, do not get carried away with very sweet, fatty or processed foods and do not drink too much alcohol. Eating the latest superfoods almost certainly won't change your health, but a balanced diet can certainly do it […].
3. Exercise
Exercise Is GoodDarren E. R. Warburton and Shannon S. D. Bredin, 'Health benefits of physical activity: A systematic review of current systematic reviews', Curr. Opin. Cardiol. 32, 541–56 (2017) for health, but there shouldn't be a frightening number of them. Research shows that every extra minute of exercise or less time spent in inactivity per day reduces the risk of death.
It is also known that exercise reduces the risk of developing dozens of diseases, including the most serious ones. age-related pathologies, from which you, no doubt, can already get rid of - they even protect against deterioration cognitive functions and dementia.
It seems likely that the first small steps are most significant, and the recoil decreases as the time or intensity of training increases. By starting small, trying to match a five- or ten-minute walk each day, you reap the health dividends and help you do what seems less daunting over time.
If you have a very sedentary lifestyle, even half an hour of light physical activity a day can reduceErika Rees-Punia et al., 'Mortality risk reductions for replacing sedentary time with physical activities', Am. J. Prev. Med. 56, 736–41 (2019) the risk of death by 14 percent. Ten to fifteen minutes of moderate physical exercise a day is even more useful, approximately halving the risk of death from any cause. 30-minute daily workouts help a little more.
Benefits outside this range are unclearUlf Ekelund et al., 'Dose ‑ response associations between accelerometry measured physical activity and sedentary time and all cause mortality: Systematic review and harmonized meta ‑ analysis', BMJ 366, l4570 (2019). Most studies have found something of a plateau and perhaps even a slight increase in risk. But it’s impossible to be sure because so few people are really active in sports that it’s difficult to draw statistically reliable conclusions.
In any case, no amount of exercise is more harmful than complete inactivity. So this is not an excuse for a sedentary lifestyle, but if you've already been running for an hour every day, you probably won't feel any benefit from extending your workout time to 90 minutes […].
4. Sleep 7 to 8 hours every night
Seven or eight o'clock sound sleep per day, probably the optimal amountXiaoli Shen, Yili Wu and Dongfeng Zhang, ‘Nighttime sleep duration, 24 ‑ hour sleep duration and risk of all ‑ cause mortality among adults: A meta ‑ analysis of prospective cohort studies’, Sci. Rep. 6, 21480 (2016) for health, but it is difficult to be completely sure, because sleep is very difficult to study. Large systematic reviews show that less sleep is associated with an increased risk of death. And - less widely held belief - more than 8 hours increases the risk of death more than lack of sleep.
The challenge is to find out if this suggests a relatively reliable discovery of causation. Do people sleep 11 hours a day, doing so of their own choosing, or, more likely, do they have an underlying health problem that makes them need extra sleep? Is the short life expectancy of people who sleep 4 hours a day due to lack of rest or the fact that they live stressful lives that affect their health and also accidentally shorten the time they have to spend during dream?
Science has forced people to sleep a certain amount for decades. But the best answer to this question would be to identify biological mechanisms that could link sleep and longevity. Scientists are getting more and more evidence in favor of an interesting hypothesis: while we sleep, the brain usesEhsan Shokri-Kojori et al., 'Β-amyloid accumulation in the human brain after one night of sleep deprivation', Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 115, 4483–8 (2018) the ability to cleanse, including from toxic amyloid associated with Alzheimer's disease. This is a good incentive to try to turn off the show one episode early and sleep a little longer […].
5. Get vaccinated and wash your hands
Vaccination Is one of the most important ways to reduce human mortality throughout our lives, and it protects not only you, but also those around you. Vaccines are more likely to live longer because you don't die of whatever infectious disease they prevent. They also reduce chronic inflammation, which can also slow aging.
And if in childhood you already received all the necessary vaccinations, the most common vaccine that adults need is against the seasonal flu. Many countries have an annual flu season, usually a couple of months in winter, although the duration is severity can vary quite significantly from year to year as different strains appear and disappear […].
It is also worth following the standard advice to avoid infections: good and regular to wash hands, prepare food thoroughly and take time off at work if you are unwell. Not only will this protect the health of your colleagues, but it can have a much broader impact if it stops them from transmitting the disease to others, and so on. Of course, there can be no better example of the importance of basic hygiene and suppression of fetal infection chains than the coronavirus pandemic […].
6. Take care of your teeth
The doctor probably told you a hundred times: brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste, brush gaps between teeth with dental floss or interdental brushes and avoid sugary snacks and non-alcoholic drinks. You may not be aware that dentist advice affects more than just your smile and future bills - it can affect life expectancy and even your risk of developing dementia […].
The putative biological link here is chronic inflammation. The constant fight against bacteria in the mouth, which cause chronic gum disease, tooth decay and so on, even if not very pronounced, leads to constant exposure to inflammatory molecules. This, as we have said more than once, basically accelerates the aging process. There have even been reports of a link between gum problems and Alzheimer's disease, when bacteria from the oral cavity were found in amyloid plaques. Although these hypotheses have not yet been proven, this is another good reason to keep your teeth clean [...].
7. Wear sunscreen
Skin aging is closely related to sun exposure. It causes the skin to wrinkle faster and is at risk of developing the age spots and discoloration that we associate with aging. And, more seriously, the risk of skin cancer is significantly increased. Getting sunburn only once every two years is associatedLeslie K. Dennis et al., 'Sunburns and risk of cutaneous melanoma: does age matter? A comprehensive meta-analysis', Ann. Epidemiol. 18, 614–27 (2008) with an increased risk of cancer.
For all these phenomena, ultraviolet light, present in sunlight, is responsible. Ultraviolet light has enough energy to break the chemical bonds that hold molecules together, including proteins and DNA. DNA damage, if not properly repaired, can turn into a mutation and risk putting the cell on the path to cancer. Damage to proteins such as collagen and elastin, which give skin its elasticity, can make it harder with age.
As a result, preventing UV radiation from reaching the skin can stop aging from exposure to sunlight. You can do this without going outside when the sun is at its zenith, covering exposed areas with clothing, or by applying sunscreenthat absorbs ultraviolet light. Among the cornucopia of skin creams that claim to be "anti-aging", sunscreen is the best scientific base to date.
8. Monitor your heart rate and blood pressure
There are a growing number of apps and devices for quantifying every aspect of life, but perhaps the most valuable is the humble automatic blood pressure cuff. Measuring heart rate and blood pressure, you can get a significant picture of your cardiovascular health. It, given that heart disease, stroke and vascular dementia are common causes of death and disability, constitutes a significant part of overall health.
Each beat of the heart throws a rush of blood into the aorta - the central artery. The circulatory system is structured like a tree: the aorta is the trunk, and ever smaller vessels are branches and twigs that deliver blood to every part of the body. The device for measuring blood pressure shows two numbers, for example 120 to 80 (both are measured somewhat archaically in millimeters of mercury).
The first, higher number is called systolic pressure, and it measures the pressure wave that travels throughout the body from the heart when it strikes. The second, lower number is diastolic pressure, which is the minimum pressure in blood vessels between beats.
Arteries with soft elastic walls can absorb the force of the heart pressure wave, so that smaller and smaller vessels located farther from the heart experience less stress. Glycation and loss of collagen and elastin, atherosclerotic plaques, formation of TTR-amyloid and others processes make the blood vessels narrower and more rigid - and these inflexible arteries transmit the full force of the impact waves.
These same processes make the vessels more fragile and the tiniest vessels extremely fragile. Exposing them to too much pressure over and over again, 60 or 100 times per minute, continuously, every day, can eventually cause them to burst.
The most serious and sudden side effects of a ruptured blood vessel occur when it is a medium-sized vessel in the brain: a cerebral hemorrhage or hemorrhagic stroke occurs. This causes blood to accumulate rather than pass through this part of the brain, and within minutes, nearby cells begin to die from lack of oxygen.
High blood pressure is the main cause of heart attacks and strokes. Measure blood pressure and be sure to take medication if diagnosed with hypertension.
It is also possible that small vessels burst, which may not be immediately noticeable, but many small episodes over time contribute to the development of vascular dementia. High blood pressure damages the fine structures in the kidneys that filter blood, causing enlargement or rupture of blood vessels in the back of the eye and also has more unexpected effects such as reduced strength bones.
High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a silent killer. Globally, about 40% of people over 25 sufferHigh blood pressure (Global Health Observatory by the World Health Organization, 2015) from him, but you cannot feel it, and he has no immediate symptoms. This is why you need a blood pressure cuff: sit down, relax, do some deep breaths, measure blood pressure and record the readings so that you can monitor trends over the long term. perspective.
Blood pressure is considered normal if it is below 120/80. Starting around 115/75, every additional 20/10 roughly doublesSarah Lewington et al., 'Age-specific relevance of usual blood pressure to vascular mortality: a meta ‑ analysis of individual data for one million adults in 61 prospective studies', Lancet 360, 1903-13 (2002) risk of dying from heart disease or stroke. Thus, 135/85 - the risk is doubled, 155/95 - four, and so on.
If your blood pressure regularly exceeds 120/80, it is probably worth trying to improve your diet or exercise a little more. These simple methods are a great way to lower your blood pressure.
If you consistently get results of 140/90 or more and your doctor does not yet know about this, it is worth making an appointmentHigh blood pressure (hypertension) (NHS, 2019) to your appointment to discuss this with him and to consider starting medication. Home blood pressure readings are invaluable because many people have numbers. are significantly higher when the pressure is measured by a doctor - a phenomenon delightfully known as white hypertension robes.
It is also worth monitoring your heart rate. Most automatic cuffs provide heart rate readings at the same time as blood pressure measurements. Resting heart rate should be somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute, although if you are in very good physical shape it may be slightly less.
A resting heart rate of 100 beats per minute instead of 60 roughly doubles the risk of death. I wonder what doublesDagfinn Aune et al., ‘BMI and all cause mortality: Systematic review and non ‑ linear dose ‑ response meta ‑ analysis of 230 cohort studies with 3.74 million deaths among 30.3 million participants', BMJ 353, i2156 (2016) the risk of dying from any cause, not just heart disease. A high resting heart rate also correlates with an increased risk of cancer. The recommendation is the same as for high blood pressure: weight loss and gain physical exercise can lower your heart rate.
If you are intrigued by the prospect of immortality, Steele's book is well worth reading. The researcher not only talks about new scientific advances that can stop aging, but also analyzes in detail how some turtles and salamanders achieve almost eternal life.
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