The world’s oldest man, Tomoji Tanabe, celebrated his 112^th birthday on Tuesday, 18^th September 2007, in Miyazaki, Japan, saying that he wanted to live for ever.

“Don’t fight old age, just embrace it and age healthily as you go through life”, says Dr Andrew Weil (Author of Healthy Ageing). There are certain things that become better with age – whiskey, wine, cheese, trees, violins, antiques. You can maximize happiness, no matter how old you are. Acceptance of the ageing process really means learning the principles of life style – eating right, sleeping right, moving right, reducing stress, maintaining good relations and playfulness, keeping the mind active, using the best of natural and preventive methods in everyday life.

 There are several changes which happen to the skin, muscles, joints, handgrip, cartilage and the height of a person who starts ageing. The following helps your body to cope with the changes:

MENTAL ACUITY

B Vitamins and physical activity cut the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

VISION

Vitamin C, E and beta carotene with zinc may help cut degeneration in those at high risk of eye diseases.

BONES

Peak bone mass occurs at the age of 35. Walking, jogging and weight training can preserve bones.

MUSCLES

Weight training exercises may help slow age related muscle loss.

STOMACH

Eat fibre. Women should eat 25g daily and men 35g.

BLOOD

Vitamin B-12 fortified foods prevent anaemia, heart and nerve problems after 50.

HEART

At least 30 minutes of brisk physical activity daily should be there. Eat more fibre rich foods such as oat-meal to help reduce blood cholesterol. Limit sodium to keep blood pressure under check. Skip transfats.

SKIN

Quit smoking. It causes premature wrinkles and ageing. Limit sun exposure and use sun creams.

JOINTS

Try to strengthen those quadriceps to prevent Osteoarthritis, especially in the knees. To relieve pain and symptoms, apply heat to joints. There is a range of motion exercises that are good for joints. But don’t forget to warm up beginning of a work out.

Following are some of Do’s and DON’TS to live long:

Don’t oversleep: More than eight hours sleep is not healthy.

Be optimistic: It decreases the risk of early death by 50%.

Lose weight: Obesity is linked with diabetes and heart diseases.

Get a pet: Pet reduce the levels of the stress hormone “cortisol”.

Be rich: Higher incomes make it easy to engage in healthy behaviours.

Quit smoking: It has been linked to most common causes of death in the elderly.

Chill out: The anger-prone are six times more likely to have heart attacks by the age of 55.

Pop anti-oxidants: Cinnamon to blueberries- they ward off cell damage and delay ageing.

Exercise a lot: Maintaining weight will give you energy to ward off stress.

LONGEVITY AND MOOD

The Big Five personality traits that help people to live and thrive:

Extroverted character

Agreeable manner
Conscientiousness
Emotional stability
Openness to experience

Our goal should be to work towards Compression of Morbidity.

To conclude let us have an AGE TEST. Assume that the average life expectancy is 70 years.

Attitude: Are you an optimist? Do you approach life with goof humour? Are you able to let go of stressful things? If no, subtract 5 years - 70 – 5 = 65

Genes: Do you have at least some family members who had lived past the age of 90? Exceptional longevity runs strongly in families. If yes, add 10 years - 10 = 75

Exercise: Do you set aside at least half an hour, three days a week, to exercise? Muscle-building exercises are particularly important. If no, subtract five years - -5 = 70

Interests: Do you do things that challenge your brain, regularly? It is important to take on activities that are novel and complex. If yes, add 5 years - 5 = 75

Nutrition:  Do you have a diet which keeps you lean? If no, then subtract 7 years - -7 75 = 68

Smoking:  Do you smoke? If yes, subtract 5 years - -5 68 = 63 years will be the life expectancy.

Let us age healthily, happily and cautiously.

Reference: India Today