Reflection

Why do some people live longer than others? or how to live longer ? are the

questions which still attract people’ attention nowadays all over the world. In many

cases, the answers appear to be clear - better diet, access to healthcare and exposure

to fewer diseases, but in others, the answers are less clear cut. And this topic is

raised and specifically discussed in “ who lives longer?” by Patricia Skalka

McCall’s.

In the reading essay, he firstly indicates that fixed and unstable factors are two

elements contributing to people’s longevity. The fixed one is gender, race, heredity.

There is more evidences that long live is also affected by many other factors and the

most permanent is physical lifestyle. Then he gives us names and examples of the

changeable factors clearly such as health measures, psychological factors, social

integration, autonomy, stress and job satisfaction, Environment and socioeconomic

status. Each issue plays a different role in human’s aging process. Finally, some

messages given to readers with the good news : “many of the factors related to

longevity are also related to life satisfaction”.

At the beginning of the text, the author takes an example that “women live longer

than men” but he gives no reason for this. I’ve read “Why Women Live Longer than

Men” by Thomas T. Perls M.D., M.P.H and Ruth C. Fretts, M.D., M.P.H. from

Harvard Medical School, and the main reason for this is the differences between

behavior and biology, between sexes, medical technology, as well as between social

and psychological factors. And these two scientists also indicate that the gap

between male and female life expectancy may now be narrowing , some of this

convergence may be the results of women suffering more from what used to be

considered male diseases.

In the next part, the first factor given is health measures and cutting calories is the

most important lifestyle people can change to extend longevity. There is little

explanation here, I can supply people with some from the opinions of Chhanda

Dutta, chief of the Clinical Gerontology that the calorie-restriction reduces all major

risk factors for heart disease which tend to increase with advancing age. Others say

that calorie restriction reduces the amount of glucose and dietary restriction

increases life span because it imposes mild stress on the organism. The chief gives

an example of Pomerleau who calculates that every calorie you avoid is worth about

30 seconds of extra life”. More importantly, Chhanda Dutta cautions that “It’s

dangerous to decrease calorie intake, or reduce weight after age 65, when one is

already losing muscle and lean tissue”.

Moreover, another factor is psychology linking with society which affects human

existence , explained by Patricia that people involving with activities in society live

longer, and early studies concentrates on the number of relationships that the more

relationships, the longer people live. Whilst newer studies by epidemiologist Teresa

Seeman, Ph. D focuses on types of relationships. I find this aspect quite reasonable

as there are many other research mentioning the same topic and giving more

evidence. Typically, in research’s results performed between 1976 and 1994 by L.F.

Berkman and S. Leonard Syme. Grants to the Yale School of Medicine and the John

Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health suggested that “healthy

social relationships affect the life span positively” , it means that those who show

humanitarian tendencies will extend their life beyond those whose behavioral

attributes are the opposite. Surprisingly, it was also found that men’s' life span is

shortened to a greater extent than that of women when no social relationships exist.

It is astounding that those who have bad characteristics are found to die at a much

younger age than those with healthy social behavior and vice verse. Thus,

psychological factors play an important role in longevity. When a person receives

positive as well as tender warmth from others, it will help him relax and decrease

the stress in his daily life, from that his lifespan can be lengthened. The University

of Michigan conducted a research study on the problem that many different social

relationships, marriage impacts life span the most , and the findings are not

surprising which showed that those who were married or lived with family members

were in better health and required less hospitalization than those who lived alone.

According to Patricia, autonomy is a changeable factor affecting human lifespan.

This is also affirmed by scientist Tony Antonucci at the Institue for Social Research

at the university of Michigan that “autonomy is a key factor in successful aging”.

From my reading, in a book by Sir Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology and

public health at University College London has the same idea that “giving people

more control over their lives and ensuring they play a full part in society will boost

health and extend lifespan” and he suggests governments should ensure workers

have greater control over their lives.

The author continues mentioning the role of stress and job satisfaction. This is

supported by Hans Selye that: “an exciting, active and meaningful life contributes to

good health” and “ a satisfying job adds years to a man’s life” Besides, I find the

saying reasonable that “If you really want to live longer, then you can start with

your attitude. Your way of thinking can not only impact the quality of your life, but

also how long you actually live.” This is proved by researchers at the Mayo Clinic

in Rochester, Minn in 2002 that optimistic people decreased their risk of early death

by 50 percent compared with those who leaned more towards pessimism. According

to The Terman Life-Cycle Study (Howard 1921) “looking at the world through

rosier-colored glasses helps us live longer”.

Further more, Socioeconomic status cannot be ignored. The writer shows a result of

a study that “ people with higher incomes, more education and high status

occupations tend to live longer”. I found a lot of interesting things about this in a

study (Michael,1960) shows that people with PhDs, a master, a degree live longer

than those with masters degrees, a degree, who left school early respectively.

Similarly, actors who have won an Oscar will live longer than those who have not.

According to Michael (1960), he maintains that our health and how long we live is

influenced to a high degree by our social standing.

Overall, the author supplies readers with a lot of changeable factors and from that

people may know how to live longer. I can provide you more some other useful

ways I’ve found from further reading. Firstly, loving animal that means having a pet

can add years to your life. Rebecca Johnson, a professor of erotological nursing at

the University of Missouri at Columbia, showed that interaction with pets reduces

levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Secondly, If people run consistently over their

lifetime, a longer life span is the very probable outcome. A study completed by

researchers last year in Rotterdam concluded that people who run about 30 minutes

5 days per week extended their lives by 3.5 to 3.7 years. The estimated increase in

life expectancy from consistent, habitual exercise varies from studies to study, but

most agree that burning 2000 calories per week through exercise on a consistent

basis will extend your life by 1.3 to 3.7 years. Finally, as people may know that

Japanese has the highest life expectancy. In the report of Brian and Angie

Maroevich, Owners of Royal Tan and Spa, the average life span of Japanese men is

78 years while their women counterparts have a life expectancy of 85 . According to

them, the reasons are different in general lifestyles between the Japanese and the rest

of the world. “The biggest difference is the way that the Japanese eat. In general the

Japanese are very healthy eaters, much more so than the typical American” . The

report points out that the main foods that are consumed in Japan consist of Tofu,

Shitake Mushrooms, Prawns, Soba Noodles, and Wakame. From this, people should

remember that they want to live for a long time, they really need to change their

lifestyle.

In conclusion, this writing makes us available with answers for the question what

we can do to live longer with a lot of opinion from scientists, professors and

researchers. The ideas of the author are condensed, understanding and various .

However, the arguments sometimes are not quite persuasive as they lack of

explanation and information in detail , therefore, the author can not totally make the

readers see clearly the problems.

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retrieved May 5, 2011 from http://www.pureinsight.org/node/208