Ever since Ponce de León set out on his explorations, there has been a search for the “Fountain of Youth,” but how does that translate to modern medicine? This is the issue that the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) specifically aims to address.
Some in the integrative healthcare community suggest that aging is simply another health issue that can be solved. However, the American Medical Association (AMA) and the American Board of Medical Specialties do not recognize the field of antiaging medicine, although both boards accept and appreciate the work done by geriatric physicians, geneticists, and scientists studying aging.
As Ponce tragically discovered, no one can live forever. But many want to live longer. Researchers, such as David Sinclair, a Harvard professor of genetics and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for Biology of Aging Research, are trying to figure out how to live beyond 100 years. Sinclair’s New York Times best-seller “Lifespan: Why We Age -- And Why We Don’t Have To” delves deep into the history of human life and aging, the present state of current aging research, and future technological advancements in conquering aging. Some ideas are a bit far-fetched. For example, we can age backward, and that aging is a disease that can be “cured.”
Regarding epigenetic damage, Sinclair has been quoted as saying, “we have found the master control switch, a way to rewind the clock.” While his theory that epigenetic damage is responsible for aging isn’t new, other scientific research suggests at least five additional systems that must be addressed simultaneously to effectively conquer aging.
So, while scientists continue to investigate ways to slow aging, the mainstream medical community, integrative healthcare practitioners, researchers, the AMA, and the A4M recommend some lifestyle changes that can support your health while you age. They include:
- Manage stress
- Learn something new
- Go to your healthcare practitioner or doctor regularly
- Connect with family and friends
- Choose healthy foods rich in nutrients
- Get moving
Stress Less
Numerous studies have shown a link between chronic psychological stress and accelerated aging. Reducing or managing your stress better can help decrease the health risks associated with stress.
The National Institute on Aging suggests doing yoga, deep breathing, or journaling to help manage stress.
For older adults dealing with the loss of a loved one, counseling or group bereavement therapy is a good idea. A pet could be helpful too.
Dr. Ann Berger, a physician and researcher at the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, said that animals could provide comfort and support and help people build their mindfulness. “The foundations of mindfulness include attention, intention, compassion, and awareness. All of those things are things that animals bring to the table. People kind of have to learn it. Animals do this innately.”
Nutrition and Supplements
Malnutrition is also associated with accelerated aging. Older adults may have trouble with digestion and absorption of nutrients in food due to a lower intake of healthy food, decreased appetite, or poor oral health like mouth dryness and dentures.
Cindy Bunte, MS, RDN, says we naturally lose muscle mass as we age. Some older adults do not get the protein they need to maintain muscle mass, fight infection, or recover from an accident or injury. Because of this, she recommends older patients increase the amount of protein in their diets. “Adding beans, nuts or nut butters and eggs are economical ways to get more protein in your diet,” she says.
The Harvard geneticist Sinclair found a possible connection between resveratrol and sirtuin genes, which protect our DNA and the modifications that regulate the activity of our genes, known as the epigenome. Another study he worked on proved that the naturally occurring compound nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) had the ability to restore the youthful state of mitochondria in elderly mice. Sinclair has become a regular supporter of supplements to fight the effects of aging. He personally takes NMN, resveratrol, vitamin D3+K2, coQ10, quercetin, and trimethylglycine (TMG, also known as betaine) supplements to help reduce the effects of aging.
Learn More
Learning to dance, play an instrument, or speak a new language can keep the brain malleable (flexible). One Johns Hopkins Medicine study found that when older adults took piano lessons their attention, memory, and problem-solving abilities improved, along with their moods and quality of life. Because music is structural, mathematical, and architectural, it requires a lot of brain power. Learning an instrument is a lot like a workout for your brain. Working out your brain can help keep it healthy and fit.
Harvard studies also found that brainy activities, including crossword puzzles, sudoku (number puzzles), math, and reading, can stimulate new connections between nerve cells and may even help the brain generate new cells, developing neuroplasticity (brain flexibility) and possibly build up a functional reserve that could protect against future cell loss.
Don’t Forget to Exercise
Besides the mental gymnastics of learning, studies also link ongoing physical activity as beneficial to the brain. Exercise can stimulate the brain’s ability to maintain network connections and make new ones. Exercise increases the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain essential to memory and learning.
A 2017 study by the National Institute on Aging found that even moderate physical activity could increase cerebral glucose metabolism, and high physical activity could increase brain volume and blood flow. These neurological benefits from exercise can, in turn, reduce cognitive decline, keeping our minds “young.”
In the end, healthcare practitioners and scientific studies suggest that staying connected with others, getting regular checkups, managing stress, eating healthfully, continuing to learn, and exercising regularly, are good ways to stay “young.” What are you doing to support your health and increase longevity?
