It was an ordinary day. Reading an article in my AARP Bulletin titled "Super Agers." Would love to be one of them, but... Listed in the article about super aging were the "Seven Secrets" of being a "Super Ager." Thought I would list them for you in case you too might care to be a super ager when you reach my age, or older. The seven secrets follow:
1. Super agers control their blood sugar and blood pressure. Super agers tend to have healthier blood pressure and blood sugar levels than the general population. They control both through medication and by eating a high nutrient diet. Older adults who follow an eating pattern rich in whole grains, veggies, leafy greens, nuts, berries and fish, and low in red meat, butter and sweets....slowed brain aging by 7.5 years and kept thinking and memory sharper.
2. Super agers talk to their friends a lot. Older adults who connected every day with others had less shrinkage in key brain areas than those who seldom had contact with friends and relatives. Perhaps that's why memory declined fastest and furthest in people who felt lonely most often.
3. Super agers found that depression doubled the risk for dementia, and a 2023 study found that those with high stress levels had a much higher risk for memory problems compared with those reporting low stress levels. Another study found that older adults with depression who got treatment, including medication and talk therapy, were 32% less likely to develop dementia than those who didn't.
4. Super agers prioritize sleep. During slumber, your brain clears away toxic waste that builds up early in the development of Azheimer's disease. A 2022 Canadian study found that trouble falling or staying asleep three or more nights per week for three months boosted the risk for worsening memory in older adults. But don't rely of drugs: chronic use of prescription sleep drugs boosted the risk for dementia by 48% in a 2021 study of 4,197 people in their 70s.
5. Super agers protect their vision and hearing. A University of Washington study found that at-risk adults who received hearing aids showed thinking and memory losses that were 48% slower compared with those who didn't. Another study found that those who had cataract surgery had a 29% lover risk for dementia compared with those who did not have the procedure. Treating poor vision could have prevented 100,000 current cases of dementia in the U.S., according to a 2021 study.
6. Super agers don't exercise more, but they push themselves physically. Spanish researchers found that what distinguished super agers most profoundly was that they have greater speed, mobility, agility and balance than typical older adults...despite reporting the same exercise frequency. One reason may be that super agers tend to do more demanding activities such as gardening, stair-climbing, or walking fast for a mile to get your heart rate up is better.
7. Super agers do crossword puzzles and Sudoku games more often than normal agers, but they are also more likely to frequently read, listen to music, travel, play games, and attend lectures and concerts. "Variety is beneficial," says brain-game researcher Aaron Seitz of Northeastern University. "Your brain needs to do a lot of different things. If we want to do them well, science and common sense suggest exercising it in a lot of different ways."
So, now you have some guidelines you can follow to be a Super-Ager if you care to follow them. The rest is up to you! As for me...well, I'll just keep on pushing the keys of my laptop as long as I can. Keeps me busy! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
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