The Top 3 Ways To Die In Your Part Of The World

NPR presents a short animation of the 3 most common ways to die in the developed and developing world. A nice reminder of how much can science, technology and education improve life expectancy and quality

What are you doing to prevent this top killers? Share it in the comments.

The Economist - How to live forever

In this short story, the Economist reviews latest anti-ageing research and BioTech companies focused on longevity. Some scientists believe we will all be able to extend our lifespan longer than 120 years, but others are researching on treating old age diseases and making current lifespan more healthy.

"The chances of a person living to 80 are based mostly on behaviour—don't smoke, eat well and exercise—but the chances of living beyond that are based largely on genetics."  

Read the full story: The Economist explains - How to live forever

The danger of vitamin pills

You may already heard this health myth before: taking vitamins pills daily prevent diseases and even aging. Now several articles are debunking this idea, like this one from The Atlantic: The Vitamin Myth: Why We Think We Need Supplements.

The article goes in more details about the origin of this myth. Seems that this was an untested idea promoted by some powerful scientists but not backed up by scientific research. And now the research points to exactly the opposite:

"The results were clear: those taking vitamins and supplements were more likely to die from lung cancer or heart disease than those who didn't take them -- the opposite of what researchers had anticipated."

Be careful, as this is not health advice, but consider talking to your doctor before taking any medication, including vitamin pills - it seems that they are not as harmless as we thought, and may do more harm than good on your road to a healthy longevity.

Preparing for a good end of a long life

Even if we live to 100 years old, one day we will die, and therefore preparing for a good and long life should also include preparing for a good end of life. Judy MacDonald in her TED talk proposes 5 practices for keeping quality of life high while our bodily functions and independence decline to zero:
Make a Plan; Recruit Advocates; Be Hospital Ready; Choose Caregivers; and Discuss Last Words.

Take 6 minutes to watch the powerful story of Jim and Shirley last days, then head to goodendoflife.com for more resources on the topic. I know I will.

A quick humorous review of aging process

A quick review of current scientific knowledge on aging, showing that genetics and environment both influence our longevity.

Source: ASAP Science

A simple test to predict longevity

A recent study shows that being able to sit on the floor and stand up with little help of your hands is strongly correlated to longevity in old age. Based on a 10 years research of 2000 men and women with 50 to 80 years old, those needing extra assistance, such as getting up on their knees or using two hands, are up to six times more likely to die prematurely.

“It is well known that aerobic fitness is strongly related to survival, but our study also shows that maintaining high levels of body flexibility, muscle strength, power-to-body weight ratio and co-ordination are not only good for performing daily activities but have a favorable influence on life expectancy”

So, here is a simple way of checking how healthy you are: just sit down, get up, and keep in good shape and balance to reach 100 years!

Source: Daily Mail

Society effects on Longevity - The Roseto Effect

An article from New York Times magazine brings up some new aspect of longevity: your community.


In the island of Ikaria, the mediterranean diet and active lifestyle are a big factor for old age and health, but places with very high longevity (Ikaria in Greece, Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, 7th Day Adventists in California) have another secret: a strong and healthy social structure.

If you pay careful attention to the way Ikarians have lived their lives, it appears that a dozen subtly powerful, mutually enhancing and pervasive factors are at work. It’s easy to get enough rest if no one else wakes up early and the village goes dead during afternoon naptime.  

This phenomenon has a name: The Roseto Effect describes the uncommon health and longevity of citizens from Roseto, Pennsylvania (USA) in the 50s and how these differences disappeared as Roseto became more "Americanized" in the 1960s. The studies point that erosion of traditionally cohesive family and community relationships increased the mortality rate.

Seems that we should cultivate strong community ties, together with a healthy life style, to become healthy centenarians, and a healthy society make it easier for its members to have better health and longevity.

Hat tip for BoingBoing for bringing it up!