Studies Show Promises For Improved Health In Life’s Later Years
August 15th, 2012, was a very good day for runner Fauja Singh. On that date, he set eight world records for his age group, spanning distances from 100 to 5,000 meters. Three days later, he added the record for the marathon. His age group? One hundred years and up.
Running a marathon at age 100 might not even be the most remarkable thing about Singh. Possibly even more remarkable: He didn’t take up serious running until his mid-80s.
You’ve heard it again and again: “It’s never too late.” Well, it wasn’t too late for Singh to begin training to be a world-class master athlete in his mid-80s, but what about the rest of us? We might not aspire to be world-class athletes, but many of us do want to enhance our health and extend our lives a bit. When is it too late to begin?
What Research Says About Age and Health Improvements
Recent research from some of the leading institutions and investigators across the country seems to confirm that, in fact, it is never too late for any of us.
One study of especially frail people in their 90s, for instance, found that three months of weight training significantly enhanced their strength, increased their walking speed, improved their balance and prevented falls.
It’s not only lifestyle factors that can improve health as we age. Emerging therapies that target aging itself appear effective even relatively late in life.
For example, one large study (reported at webmd.com) of the Type 2 diabetes drug metformin found it had its biggest health impact among the oldest group studied. Type 2, or adult onset, diabetes has previously been reported to reduce life expectancy by 6-10 years. Yet, this recent study of almost 80,000 people with diabetes taking metformin found that they actually lived longer than a similar group of people without diabetes. The biggest longevity effect was in those who were 70 and older. Differences were smaller for those aged 60 to 70, with virtually no effect among those younger than 60.
Breathwork, the deliberate practice of controlling your breathing, can serve as a highly beneficial health practice for older individuals. Firstly, it can help improve lung capacity and cardiovascular health, both of which tend to decline with age. By deepening and slowing down the breathing pattern, it can also stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps the body shift from a state of stress to relaxation, aiding in reducing anxiety and promoting better sleep.
Moreover, breathwork can enhance cognitive function, as proper oxygenation is critical for optimal brain function. It’s also an accessible and low-impact activity, making it suitable for older adults who may have mobility challenges. Additionally, breathwork can serve as a mindful exercise, helping older individuals to cultivate presence and reduce feelings of loneliness or disconnection. In sum, breathwork can provide numerous health benefits and promote overall well-being in older adults.
Surprising Results from Mice Studies
In a study that shocked the field, mice were given a drug called rapamycin in their daily food allotment in the hope it would improve their health and extend their lives. However, the key here is that the drug wasn’t started until the mice had already reached the human equivalent of about 60 years old. Prior to this study, an assumption among aging researchers was that treatments meant to retard aging needed to be started relatively early in life. Amazingly, from the time the mice started receiving the drug at age 60-equivalent, they lived about 30 percent longer than the mice not getting the drug.
Another study, as reported at harvard.edu and co-authored by Matt Kaeberlein, an expert at the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR), found that mice who were given the same drug beginning at the human equivalent of 70 years old also showed health improvements. (Read more about this here.)
Other promising new therapies to preserve health show similar patterns. Transfusion of blood from young mice into mice at the human equivalent of about 50 years old improved the health of their muscles, hearts and brains. There’s no reason to think that similar effects wouldn’t be found in even older mice. AFAR expert Tom Rando at Stanford University, featured recently in Next Avenue, is leading much of this research.
Another promising therapy reduces the number of so-called “zombie” or senescent cells, which accumulate throughout the body with age. The research has shown remarkable effects in older mice, improving kidney, heart and lung functions, among other health benefits. AFAR experts like Judy Campisi at the Buck Institute and James L. Kirkland at Mayo Clinic are advancing senolytic drugs that target these zombie cells to extend our health. In fact, mice at the human-equivalent of 75 to 90 years old have been found to live one-third longer when the number of these cells was chemically reduced in their bodies.
So, whether you wish to set world athletic records when you’re 100 years old or simply live a longer, healthier life, science is now demonstrating that the cliche is true: It is never too late.
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