GOOD
HABITS = GOOD AGING
Only about 30% of the characteristics of aging are
genetically determined. The other 70% are linked to lifestyle.
According to the us. Census bureau, a woman who reaches 50 years and remains free of
cancer and heart disease can expect to live to her 91st birthday. An average healthy male
who is 65 years today will most likely live to see age 81.
HEALTH
CARE QUALITY
Compared to the rest of the world, americans pay the most for healthcare and get the
least--30 to 40 million people, two-thirds of them children, are excluded.
According to a 1990 harvard survey, 60% of people in the us believe that their health-care
system needs fundamental change compared to 38% of canadians.
Only 40% of people in the u.s. are eligible for government funded hospital care. Compare
this to 77% for netherlands, 92% for germany, 98% for switzerland, spain, and belgium, 99%
for france and austria, and 100% for all other countries.
In 1987, if the u.s. had spent the same share of the gnp on health care as our
international competitors, we could have saved $158 billion.
If the u.s. health care costs maintain their present rate of growth, they will exceed $1
trillion by the year 2000. Canada, the netherlands, germany, and japan are reducing the
growth rate of their health care costs.
Americans are the most x-rayed, cat-scanned, and operated people on earth, which helps
explains why u.s. health care costs are so high.
In the u.s., the average price of a day in the hospital is $360, in japan one day its $60.
An appendectomy in the u.s. is fourteen times as expensive as one in the netherlands. A
hysterectomy is eleven times as expensive as in germany. An electrocardiogram is six times
as expensive as one in japan.
Japan spends half of what the u.s. does per capita on health
Care, while offering access to everyone.
The congressional budget office projects that medicare will grow about 10% a year,
consuming more than 17% of the budget by the year 3005, up from 12% in 1996.
In 1952, 38% of the people over 65 were living with their children; 35 years later, that
figure had dropped to 29%, according to the american association for retired persons.
The annual cost of caring for alzheimer's victims is now $90 billion and the number of
cases is expected to rise fivefold to 14 million by 2050. (longevity magazine 1990)
The u.s. spends less than 5% of its health care budget on preventive medicine.
Alzheimer's disease receives the largest share of the the national institute of aging
research budget--91 million/yr. Molecular and cellular biology studies receive $30
million/yr. (medical world news , may 5, 1990)
POPULATION CHARACTERISTICS
In 1990, more than 31 million americans were over 65 years old, nearly twice the number as
in 1960. By 2020, when a large part of the baby boomer generation has passed age 65, there
will be more than 50 million older americans.
Of older persons, over 10% are over 85. This proportion is expected to rise to over 17% by
2040. This group called "the oldest old", is the fastest growing segment of the
population. Because per capita costs for medical services and long-term care are highest
for these persons, the growth of this population subgroup will have marked impact on the
health care system. That's why anti-aging is so important...
The geographic distribution and migration patterns of older persons in the u.s. have
important implications for health and long-term care services. In 1990 over 3 million
elderly persons resided in ca, over 2 million in ny & fl, over 1 million in pa, tx,
il, oh, mi, & nj. State populations with the highest proportion of persons over 65
were fl. ri, pa, nd, sd, nb, mo, & ak.
Life expectancy has increased for all ages. This increase in largely attributable to
substantial declines in the number of deaths from heart disease and stroke since the late
1960s.
As heart disease and stroke cause fewer deaths, more persons die at a later age of other
diseases, such as cancer. The leading cancers being are prostrate, breast, colon, &
lung
"compression of morbidity" refers to the theory that with better disease
prevention and treatment, the period between the onset of severe disability and death can
be compressed into fewer years.
Active life expectancy is the average number of years a person is likely to remain in an
active or non-disabled state.
The percentage of people 85 and older living at home independently is 45%; living at home
needing help of another person is 20%.
In 1990, about 1.5 million older persons in the u.s. lived in nursing homes--75% were
women, 16% were age 65 to 74, 39% were age 75 to 84, and 45% were over age 85.
Medicare covers only a portion of a person's health costs. Over 25% of total medicare
expenditures for a given year go to enrollees who are usually in the last year of life.
And medicare expenditures in the last year of life are about twice as high for those dying
of cancer as for those dying of heart disease or stroke.
Heart disease is the #1 american death threat
Americans have a 37.2% chance of dying of heart complications.
One reason for america's heart-attack propensity is our top-notch cardiac care. If you
survive a heart attack, you're likely to live longer here than almost anywhere else in the
world--16.6 years of life expectancy after treatment.
One reason heart disease is so high is due to fat in the american diet. Animal-fat
cuisine's are clogging the arteries of northern europe and the us, while fish and
vegetables keep southern europe and japan relatively fat-free.
There are more extremely fat people (40% or more above their recommended body weight) in
the us than in any other country in the world.
Death from heart disease decreased 45% from 1950 to 1987, largely due to an emphasis on
low-fat diets.
CANCER
In the u.s., breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer for women of all ages. One out
of nine american women will get breast cancer and one out of four will die from it.
An epidemiological anomaly is that japan, with the highest smoking rate, has the lowest
lung-cancer rate. The u.s. has the second highest smoking rate with 400,000 related deaths
per year compared to japan's 110,186 deaths.
According to a 1990 world health organization report, cigarette smoking causes about 1/3
of all deaths between the ages of 35 and 64, making it by far the leading cause of
premature mortality in developed countries.
The incidence of prostrate cancer exceeds that of all other cancers in men by age 65 and
rises to an incidence of greater than 1/100/yr. After age 80.
Colon cancer is the second leading cancer in men at age 85 and n women at age 75
Lung cancer incidence peaks in men in their early 80's and in women in the early 70's.
"ELDER STATS"
The national institute for health projects that by the year 2040 the average life
expectancy will be 86 for men and 91.5 for women.
Our current median age is 32, and is projected to be 36 by the turn of the century. In
1776 it was 16.
In the year 2025, the number of americans over 65 will outnumber teenagers by more than
two to one.
Since 1990 the number of individuals 65+ in the u.s. has increased 10 times from one
million to 32 million.
Four our of five people now survive to age 65 or beyond. (chicago tribune, december 15,
1991)
In japan, average life expectancy for women exceeds 84 years.
White females have the highest life expectancy at 79.6 years, followed by black females
(73.8), white males (72.9), and black males (64.9). (montly vital statistics report,
centers for disease control and prevention, august 31, 1993)
ANTI-AGING ECONOMICS
According to president clinton. Childhood immunization saves $10.00 for every $1.00 of
government funding. This is a worthy goal but pales in comparison to potential savings
through anti-aging medicine.
The lifetime costs of two children severely crippled by polio is far greater than all
government monies spent on anti-aging research per year.
If anti-aging medicine could delay admission to nursing homes by one month, the u.s.
healthcare system would save $3 billion per year.
The national institute on aging recently reported that if the onset of alzheimer's disease
could be delayed by 5 years, the nation would save $40 billion per year.
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS ON
AGING
When taking dhea, 82% of women and 67% of men scored higher tests rating their ability to
cope with stress, their quality of sleep, and their basic well-being.
Exercise is the closet thing to an anti-aging pill that exists. People who are physically
fit, eat healthy, balanced diet, and take nutritional supplements can measure out to be
10-20 years biologically younger than their chronological age.
In the united states, as many as 250,00 deaths per year are attributable in part to a lack
of regular physical activity.
Calories: at age 70 a person needs 500 fewer calories per day to maintain body weight.
Body fat: the average 65-year old sedentary woman's body is 43% fat compared to 25% at age
25. Convert fat into muscle by exercising.
Blood pressure: most americans see an increase in blood pressure with age. Exercise can
control this.
Cholesterol: ldl cholesterol leads to heart disease, hdl cholesterol helps protect against
it. A low-fat diet along with a regular exercise program will increase hdlcholesterol
levels.
Temperature: the body's ability to regulate temperature declines with age. Control factors
are regular exercise and healthy diet.
Bone density: bones lose mineral content and become weaker with age. Control factors are
proper calcium and stress exercise.
Aerobic capacity: the body's efficient use of oxygen declines by 30-40 percent by age 65.
Regular aerobic exercise can prevent this decline.
In 19oo the leading causes of death in the usa were tuberculosis, pneumonia, and diarrhea.
In 1900, 75% of the population died before age 65; today there is almost a 75% increase in
population by age 65.
Information about centenarians in the usa
Year population
1980 35k 100+
1994 50k 100++
2004 110k
With some effort and a little luck, there is no reason why you can't live to be 100; once
you've done that you've got it made, because few people die over 100. -george burns
Luigi coronado of venice wrote of the spartan dietary lifestyle in the 16th century. In
disclosures of the temperate life, he states that contrary to the popular belief that life
for the elderly was unattractive, he says, i never knew the world was so beautiful until i
reached old age.
The number of individuals who are aged 100+ years was 50,000 in 1994. It is projected that
this number will be 110,000 in 2004.
Shigechio isumi, an okinawan fisherman, lived to almost 121 years.
Reported in a 1990 issue of science magazine. If heart disease, cancer, and diabetes were
eliminated, the life expectancy for both men and women would leap to 99.2 years.
Life span of notable individuals
Methuselah - 969 years
Noah - 950 years
Jacob - 147 years (after the flood)
The following men predicted the success of anti-aging medicine:
Francis bacon
Rene decartes
Benjamin franklin
Life expectancy in hawaii is 77 years, while in the district of columbia the life
expectancy is 69 years. -1994 census bureau
Balanced diet-- less than 10% of americans eat 5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day.
More than half of americans do not eat a single serving of fruit and vegetables per day.
Jeanne calment is living in france at the age of 120 years. Her birthday is february 21.
Garlic, especially aged garlic extract has been shown to lower cholesterol by 9-15%,
inhibit cancer in cell cultures and significantly reduce heart attacks.
Soy has been shown to increase hdl levels by 15% (i.e. miso soup)
According to the condor school of hygiene (1994), vegetarians have 28% lower heart disease
and 39% lower cancer than their meat-eating counterparts .
When soybeans are fed to laboratory animals, they lived 13% longer than those animals that
were fed milk products.
Both green and black tea increase blood anti-oxidant activity by almost 50%; this effect
can last for 80 minutes.
5 cups of tea per day (what the japanese drink) can reduce the risk of stroke by 50%.
Black and green tea drinkers reduce the risk of esophageal cancer, according to a study in
shanghai by 50%. A study by the university of chicago medical school showed that long-term
tea drinkers reduced their pancreatic cancer risk by 60%.
Homocysteine is a neurotoxin and can interfere with mental activity and moods. Depressed
elderly people have higher homocysteine levels than are marked normal.
At least 10% of all heart attacks (150,000) are linked to increased homocysteine levels.
Homocysteine attacks artery walls and increases free radical activity, arteries, increases
blood clotting, stimulates growth of smooth muscle cells that arteries and promote plaque
accumulation.
Homocysteine is detoxified by b12/b6/folate.
2.5 - 5 mg/day of folic acid is ideal.
10 - 50 ug vitamin b6
1000 ug vitamin b12
Baby boomers born 1946-1964 number some 75 million.
By 2050 people 65+ will be over 80 million or 1:4 .
Today in 1996, 33 million americans are age 65+ or 1:8.
Risk of alzheimers disease doubles every five years after age 60!
Suicide is the 13th leading cause of death in persons 65 and older.
By the year 2000, americans aged 65 and over are expected to constitute 13% of the total
population of the united states; this compared with 7% in 1950 and 12.5% in 1988 (aarp,
1989; u.s. census bureau; 1989)
Murphy et al. (1993) estimates that the probability of a man experiencing a broken hip by
age 85 year is nearly 5%. Further, the age-specific hip fracture incidence rates have more
than doubled over the past several decades.
460 b.c. = birth of hippocrates, father of medicine
1772= nitrous oxide discovered
1928 = penicillin identified
1954= salk vaccine trials
Living
Return
Top Return
