The 'Other' Big C

I'm in the midst of flipping through Jon Stewart's laugh out loud coffee table book, Earth. It's   written for aliens who have stumbled across planet earth long after we humans have annihilated ourselves. In it, Stewart provides his P.O.V. on the who, what, when, where, why and how humanity got itself into the mess that is life in the year 2010.

As is the case with all of Stewart's humor, the text is decidedly tongue-in-cheek. One section, entitled ‘The Phases of Man’ is both hilarious and insightful.

The middle-age section naturally hit home with me. It features a photograph of a portly, balding middle-aged guy rocking a Hawaiian shirt, mandals, a couple of tats and an earring. Various arrows point to the man's anatomy and contain captions such as this one about his visible chest hair, “Men of a certain age were eager to show the world not all of their hairlines were receding.” Another arrow pointing to the man's sagging chest reads, “Decreased metabolism manifested itself in the form of love handles, spare tires, saddle bags, walrus knees, beluga back and manteats.”

Stewart describes middle age as the period of time between 45 and 60 (Phew! I still qualify). He then goes on to say that middle age varied greatly due to changing life expectancies. “For instance,” he writes, “victims of midlife crisis during the Dark Ages would comfort themselves with the thought that 20 is the new 16.”

Tuesday's New York Times Science section neatly complemented Stewart's wisdom on middle age with an in-depth analysis of how and why centenarians make it to 100 years of age and beyond. There are now 96,548 humans 100 years of age, or older (there were only 38,300 in 1990). That's enough oldsters to fill the Rose Bowl! Of course, they'd fall asleep before halftime, but still...

According to the article, which cites findings of a New England Centenarian Study at Boston University, there's a direct link between longevity and people who are extroverts, have a healthy dose of self-esteem and strong ties to family and community (note: two out of three ain't bad). It also reports on a University of Pittsburgh study that followed 97,000 women for eight years and said those 'deemed optimistic' were significantly less likely to die from heart disease than were pessimistic women, which the study described as “cynically hostile.” (Note: I've had more than one cynically hostile client over the years). Pessimists were also more likely to be overweight, smoke cigarettes and avoid exercise.

Here's the kicker, though. A Swedish study of identical twins separated at birth and reared apart concluded that only about 20 to 30 percent of longevity is genetically determined. That's huge. That means we can play a major role in determining how long we live and whether we can make it to the 'other’ Big C.

My game plan to reach 100 is two-fold:

- Challenge my body with intense physical exercise such as this past weekend's rock climbing in New Hampshire  , the Tour de Pink charity ride and other seemingly nonsensical middle-age pursuits.
- Challenge my mind with daily blogs, bi-monthly podcasts, performing stand-up comedy and trying to devise new service offerings for Peppercom. I find battling with Ed also keeps my mind fresh. I may die before this blog is even posted, but I've got a ‘Big C Plan’ that I'm implementing. What about you? Are you thinking of making it to the other Big C? If so, share your game plan. Lifelong learning is another key ingredient in the lives of centenarians portrayed in the Times article. And, I'm all ears (minus the earring, of course).

Comments

[bookandbloggeek]

Love this post. Having had the first Big "C", I plan to have the other Big "C" too, by filling my life with good food, good friends, new ways to exercise both my mind and body and to stay eternally optimistic. While you rock climb, I have taken up tennis, am learning to play golf (while not exercising my body, certainly my mind), read voraciously, exercise with your wife (she is a slave driver) and surround myself with positive people.

[RepMan]

Smart Book. There's no doubt that a thirst for physical and mental challenge is the way to stay young. Retire and die.

[Kaykla Kaufman]

Here are some of my ideas on how to feel and stay well. I delete anyone and everyone who no longer words with my lifestyle...even people I have known for years...especially people I have known for years.

I try to stay away from the phrase "have to". I always say that the only thing you have to do is die. No, you don't have to pay taxes. You can go to prison instead. But when that dark angle comes a callin..........

Of course, eating right and doing other good stuff for your body helps. One of the reasons I have been a vegetarian for over ten years.

Mostly, I try not to aggravate myself about anything and everything that is not my business. At my age, I will not be able to change the world. I try not to judge people and internalize very little. As we grow older, we should try to trim the fat not only from the foods we take in but everything else that is toxic around us.

[RepMan]

That's great advice, Kayla. I've de-friended people on Facebook because they've either spammed me repeatedly with unwanted alerts or no longer acted like friends. I feel a lot better as a result.