Long happy life
Can a person's worldview affect his longevity
Asya Kazantseva, N+1
Many studies show that if you have an easy character, high intelligence and successfully found the meaning of life, your chances of dissecting on roller skates at eighty and traveling across Africa at ninety are much higher than those of your familiar whiners.
Forty years ago, Arden House, a respectable retirement home in Connecticut, turned into a research base for one of the most inspiring experiments of the twentieth century. Psychologists Judit Rodin and Helen Langer tested a bold hypothesis: is it true that a sense of control over your life is a key condition for good health and a guarantee of longevity?
"It is important that you make your life comfortable in Arden House," the administrator said at a general meeting of residents of the fourth floor. – If you want to rearrange the furniture in your room, tell the staff about it, they will help you. You can choose a home plant, but you have to take care of it yourself. On Thursday and Friday we show a movie, you need to decide if you want to watch it and on what day."
"We are doing a lot to make your life at Arden House comfortable," the same employee informed the residents of the second floor. – We have furnished your rooms in the best possible way. In addition, we give each of you a plant, you do not need to take care of it, it will be watered by a nurse. On Thursday and Friday we are showing a movie, we will inform you about who will watch it on what day."
Apart from these little things, the lives of elderly people from the fourth and second floors were practically no different. What was the amazement of the staff of Arden House when, after three weeks, the researchers recorded serious differences between the groups (Langer, Rodin, The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: a field experiment in an institutional setting // J Pers Soc Psychol., 1976). People who were encouraged to control their own lives began to consider themselves more active and happy. Those who did not have to solve any problems, because caring staff came to the rescue at any second, on the contrary, became more passive and unhappy. Questionnaires filled out by nurses (different on each floor and unaware of the essence of the experiment) showed that the residents of the fourth floor improved their health, and they, unlike the residents of the second floor, began to devote more time to communicating with neighbors, relatives and friends.
During the eighteen months of the experiment, the health condition of the representatives of both groups worsened – after all, we are talking about the very old. However, during this time, 13 out of 44 residents of the second floor and 7 out of 47 residents of the fourth floor died of old age. The authors assessed this result as statistically significant and even expressed it as a percentage, which made the picture even more impressive: 15% mortality among those who control their lives and 30% among those who do not control it.
It turns out that if a person just has a flower that he cares for, this circumstance halves the probability of death in the next year and a half. How strong should the effect be for elderly people who are up to their ears immersed in interesting work?
Willpower – the key to longevity? In 1800, the average life expectancy in rich countries was 40 years, and in poor countries – only 25. Few people managed to live to old age, mostly people died from infections.
Today, people in developed countries live on average 80 years, and in the third world – 50. At the same time, if you look at the leading causes of death, it turns out that in the third world people still die from diarrhea, respiratory infections, AIDS. In developed countries, where modern medicines are available, all these problems can be kept under control. People die from stroke, coronary heart disease, lung cancer, diseases whose development seriously depends on lifestyle. Researchers call the current situation the "third epidemiological revolution." During the first epidemiological revolution, doctors learned how to fight infections, the second allowed them to keep chronic diseases such as diabetes under control. The main task today is to fight senile diseases, and here the salvation of drowning people depends to a great extent on the drowning people themselves. Those who have enough willpower to quit smoking, not to abuse high-calorie food and go cycling instead of watching TV while lying on the couch live a long time.
In search of ikigaya
Researchers looking for a link between longevity and psychological well-being often use the Japanese concept of "ikigai" in their works. There is no generally accepted translation into Russian or English. Ikigai is both "the meaning of life" and "the purpose of life" and "what a person gets out of bed for in the morning." If you use metaphors from Western culture, then ikigai is something that you will mention in a conversation with Saint Peter to show him that you have wisely disposed of your fate and you can safely be admitted to paradise.
The conversation at the gates of paradise, however, will not take place soon. In 2008, a group of Japanese scientists published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine the results of a seven-year study involving more than 40,000 elderly people (Sone et al., Sense of Life Worth Living (Ikigai) and Mortality in Japan: Ohsaki Study). All the subjects were asked if ikigai existed in their lives. 25,596 people said yes. The others were not sure or admitted that they had not yet acquired ikigai. It turned out that among those who had no meaning of life, one and a half times more people died during the observation than among those who had a meaning of life. The risk of death from cardiovascular diseases, pneumonia, as well as from external causes, including suicide, was particularly high. The authors note that, from the very beginning, the proportion of unemployed, unmarried, poorly educated and sedentary people was higher among people deprived of ikigaya, but the pattern remained even in the case of comparing people with the same social status and lifestyle.
If only there was no war In 1932, a large-scale study of the IQ level of local schoolchildren was conducted in Scotland.
The results were preserved in the archives, and in 2001, scientists managed to find 2,230 participants in this survey to see how their fate turned out. It turned out that every additional 15 IQ points increases a person's chance of staying alive by the age of 76 by 21%. The effect was more pronounced for women than for men, but the authors note that this is most likely due to the influence of the Second World War, in which the probability of death was higher just for those who demonstrated a high level of intelligence in childhood. Why do smart people live longer? On the one hand, they tend to take care of their health – they are more successful in quitting smoking, do not abuse alcohol, and are less likely to get injured than people with low IQ. On the other hand, we may be talking about the fact that smart schoolchildren from the 1932 study inherited more favorable combinations of genes from their parents from the very beginning, and also ate better in childhood – which simultaneously led to the development of intelligence and to stronger health throughout life.
The main thing is not to worry
Life expectancy in Japan today is 80.5 years for men and 86.8 years for women – more than in any other country in the world. This is partly due to advanced healthcare, partly to successful genetic combinations common among the Japanese, partly to their traditional diet – low-calorie and rich in seafood. However, the cultural differences between East and West should not be underestimated. While our people strive to maintain youth, Confucian ethics, common in Japan and China, implies not only respect for the elderly, but also a deep admiration for them, bordering on envy. The Russian philologist-Sinologist Vasily Alekseev cites in his diary, written during a trip to China in 1907, the following everyday sketch:
In the morning, an old woman comes to chat. The boatman gallantly inquires how old she is: "Probably eighty soon!" – The old woman, very flattered, modestly declares that she is only fifty-six.- "Well, good luck to you, old woman! You look, by God, at eighty!"
Modern Japan in this respect is not so much different from China a century ago. As Craig Willcox, who studies the causes of the extraordinary longevity of the inhabitants of Okinawa Island, notes, Japanese society and the government are making serious efforts to make the elderly feel in demand and respected. They are encouraged to share the experience of young people, learn new hobbies, and participate in volunteer projects. All this contributes to the feeling of happiness – and it, in turn, prolongs life.
Many studies show that centenarians differ from ordinary people in character. For example, psychological testing of 70 Tokyo residents who have overcome the centennial milestone showed that a characteristic feature of centenarians is openness to new experiences. They readily get acquainted with new ideas, question authority, and appreciate diversity. Scientists also noted that female centenarians tend to be extroverts and spend a lot of time communicating with relatives and friends. In addition, they are characterized by conscientiousness, the desire to behave prudently and plan their actions in advance.
Only men need marriage! Demographers know that in any age group, the mortality rate among bachelors is noticeably higher than among married men.
At a young age, this is associated with risky behavior: while a thirty-year-old bachelor is riding a motorcycle and drinking in dubious clubs, his married peer is carefully driving a credit minivan to the market for vegetables. Mature men's wives regularly save their lives by driving them to the doctor for examination at every complaint, about which the person himself thinks "yes, nonsense, it will pass!". Interestingly, for women, this pattern is much weaker: being married seems to be nice, but it's clearly not the main thing in prolonging life.
How does it work?
Openness to new experiences, sociability, prudence, happiness. All this is good, but how can they affect health and longevity? There seem to be two main reasons.
On the one hand, psychologically well-off people are simply less likely to neglect their health. If an elderly person feels in demand and genuinely likes his life, he is more likely to go to the doctor on time when he has something to get sick, will eat right and spend time outdoors.
However, there is also a more direct connection between the psychological state and health. We are talking about the influence of stress hormones – adrenaline and cortisol. Numerous studies have shown that psychological stress, especially chronic, creates a serious load on the heart and blood vessels; disrupts the immune system, including its ability to fight the appearance of malignant tumors; correlates with a decrease in the synthesis of clotho protein, which, in turn, is actively studied because of its hypothetical ability to prolong life.
Research is mainly carried out with the participation of people experiencing really severe stresses – for example, those associated with caring for seriously ill relatives. Nevertheless, the accumulated knowledge quite suggests that the habit of seriously worrying about nonsense probably also negatively affects health. Other things being equal, an old man who is seriously worried and angry about how his teenage great-granddaughter dresses foolishly is likely to live less than his neighbor, who laughs and takes grinders and a leather jacket from his great-granddaughter to try on and spin in front of the mirror.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
24.06.2016