What is Life Longevity?
Life longevity is centered around how do we live longer and healthier lives. The study of this field is known as Gerontology which explores the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging; as described by Wikipedia. There are many sub-fields to Gerontology such as biology, nursing, medicine, criminology, dentistry, social work, physical and occupational therapy, psychology, psychiatry, sociology, economics, political science, architecture, geography, pharmacy, public health, house, and anthropology which all contribute to various aspects of the discipline.
But ultimately, what us as humans want to know is how do we live longer and healthier lives.
Importance of studying life longevity
Studying life longevity and related sub-fields is important as it relates to advancing healthcare, maintaining quality of life, addressing social and economic implications, promoting environmental sustainability, and navigating ethical considerations in an aging world. From this we can make changes and use the advancement to help us live longer and healthier lives.
Key factors influencing longevity
While there are no definitive factors that ultimately leads to the fountain of youth, there is rather a lottery of key factors that influence life longevity. These key factors include:
Genetics. An individuals genes determine inherited traits that can impact someone’s health and wellbeing, their likelihood of disease, and cellular function.
Lifestyle. Making healthy lifestyle choices may be one of the easiest factors in living a longer life to control. This consists of eating a healthy and balanced diet, getting enough exercise, and avoiding such things as smoking and drinking.
Socioeconomic. The individual’s ability to access quality healthcare & quality food. Means of mobility to move or avoid circumstance that may negatively impact their health.
Environment. Pollution, contamination, poor air quality, access to greenspace, weather patterns, and altitude all play rolls that factors that influences life longevity.
Social. Having and maintaining social connections and support networks can increase can be a contributing factor to a longer life.
Life Longevity Across Different Nations and Societies throughout the World
Life expectancy has increased across the World
According to outworldindata.org, the average global life expectancy was 70 years in 2021 which is double from only 200 years ago. Given this is a global average, there are still great life expectancy discrepancies over the World based on geography. For example, Nigeria’s life expectancy was thirty years lower then Japan’s based on 2021 figures and Japan itself is a global record holder over other nations as having some of the longest living people.
The rise in the average life expectancy across the Globe also drives the reasons for the large discrepancy in life expectancy from different countries. The increase in the average life expectancy is attributed to advances in health, nutrition, clean water supply, sanitation, neonatal care, antibiotics, vaccines, and other health related technologies (i.e. MRI) all accordingly to ourworlddata.org.
Embed Life Expectancy Credit: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy?time=earliest..2021
Blue Zones
Blue zones are regions in the World where people are claimed to live longer then average.
The current blue zones are:
- Okinawa, Japan
- Sardinia, Italy
- Nicoya, Costa Rica
- Ikaria Greece
- Loma Linda, California
As published in the National Library of Medicine, they detailed nine lifestyle characteristics that were present across all blue zones which contributed to people living longer and into their 100’s.
Activity
Move Naturally. It was observed that people living in blue zones moved naturally in the daily life and routines as their exercise; moving about every 20 minutes.
Outlook
Stress Reduction. People living in blue zones have daily routines and rituals to deal with stress reduction and the associated inflammation stress causes on the body.
Purpose. People who could articulate their sense of purpose had a lower risk of dying.
Diet
Plant-Based. The blue zone diet is primarily made up of a plant-based diet including a lot of beans which are full of fiber, protein, and nutrition.
80 Percent Full. People in blue zones are mindful to not overeat, they eat until they are 80% full. Eating slowly and will family along with meal portion sizes helps to control overeating.
Connections
Loved Ones. People form the blue zones spend a lot of time and effort working on their relationships with their spouses and children.
Faith. People in blue zones tend to belong to faith-based communities and individuals who regularly attend a faith-based service live 4 to 14 years longer than those who do not.
The Tribe. The world’s longest living people have social circles that support healthy behaviors.
Source: (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK298903/)
Life prolonging technology
The pace of technological advancements occurs rapidly bringing to market products that can be used to help us prolong our lives even outside medical advancements. Here are some technologies that are currently available as an aide to help extend life;
- Wearable Fitness trackers to help improve fitness, sleep
- Stem cells and regenerative medicine to be able to repair and replace damaged or non-functioning organs and tissue
- Artificial Intelligence to diagnose, analyze and predict health issues before they become a threat to someone’s life
- Genetic testing to determine potential traits that may cause future disease issues
- Patient care and personalized treatment plans based on data
- Gene engineering & editing technologies that shows promising potential to be able to edit out inherited conditions, treat diseases, and potentially eliminate disorders altogether.
- Nanotechnology under development would allow altering biologic mater at the molecular level allowing for targeted drug delivery treatments and repairing damaged tissues.
Source: https://www.tomorrow.bio/post/the-7-technologies-that-will-extend-life-expectancy-to-120-years-2023-09-5160721704-longevity
Ways to improve life longevity
For a healthier, happier and longer life, it is important to prioritize key lifestyle habits that promote overall well-being and vitality. Here are some habits that will set people on the path to life longevity:
- Eat healthy and mostly plants
- Stay active and exercise
- Maintain good sleep patterns
- Nurture your social life
- Regular health check-ups and genetic screening
- Avoid smoking, alcohol, overly processed food, and environmental with pollution including poor air quality.
By embracing these habits, individuals can empower themselves to not only enhance their current well-being but also lay the foundation for a healthier longer life.
Source:
https://www.healthylongevity.clinic/blog/what-is-longevity-definition
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/4-top-ways-to-live-longer
What does this all mean
To sum things up, studying life longevity is important as an overall discipline for advancing healthcare, improving quality of life, and addressing social and economic challenges; not to mention generally for each individual to help them/us live longer and better lives. While there’s no magic formula for eternal youth, focusing on genetics, healthy lifestyle habits, social connections, and leveraging technological advancements can significantly impact one’s lifespan as well as healthspan.
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