Prof. Olga Shestova: We can live for 120 years

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Prof. Olga Shestova: We can live for 120 years
Prof. Olga Shestova: We can live for 120 years
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Do you want to live to see great-grandchildren? Follow a few simple tips, comments the Russian Prof. Olga Shestova - candidate of biological sciences, author of the book "Age"

Prof. Shestova, what are the signs of aging before wrinkles appear?

- When a person says: I am already old. They invite you to ride a bike, and you answer: where are you, already my weight and age are different. This is the first sign of aging. Although already the age limits have shifted, so to speak. If a few decades ago a 40-year-old woman was considered an old woman, now according to the standards of the World He alth Organization, up to 44 years old we are talking about youth; to 59 – for maturity; for advanced age - up to 74, and old age, i.e.f. long-lived people - after 90 years.

How does science explain why we now look younger than our mothers at the same age?

- Science does not contradict common sense. First, we live longer because medical advances have become more accessible. My first place of work was the All-Union Hematology Scientific Center. Then, 30 years ago, 35% could survive from leukosis, now it is 85% of patients.

Secondly, we started eating better. They say the air is bad, so is the ecology, and so are GMOs. This is all bullshit, the pros outweigh the cons. Product quality is growing. We use cleaner water than our ancestors. Plus

the achievements of cosmetics

Our grandmothers often worked in the sun, they got wrinkles and pigment spots. We now wear hats, apply sunscreen.

You scientists say that a person can and should live up to 120 years. Why did you choose this number?

- We obey general physiological laws. We take animals from our class: monkeys, dolphins, elephants. We look at their age when they reach puberty, and we look at average life expectancy. We take the man's age when he reaches puberty. We multiply by the average coefficient of life expectancy in the class of mammals and get 120-150 years. Depending on the calculations.

What makes us age anyway?

- The chronological age recorded in the passport is not the biological age. There are studies that prove that the first can differ from the second by 10-20 years. For example, a 38-year-old can turn out to be both 28 and 60. Something depends on genetics, on external factors as well, but most of all it depends on habits, on lifestyle. Listen to yourself more. For example, you don't feel like eating breakfast in the morning. Well, don't force yourself to do it.

They keep saying that sugar is poison, so is s alt and bread… What should we do then?

- In different periods of time, different products have been declared the most harmful. But the truth is that there are no absolutely harmful and absolutely useful products. Everything is good in moderation. There is a very nice expression - intuitive eating.

The body is always talking to us,

prompts us. It's just that we don't always listen to him. I always say: it is not terrible when a person eats when he is hungry, it is much worse if he eats not when he is hungry, but when he is tired, upset, when he is in company or so as not to offend his mother.

Can a person get well if he drank and smoked until the age of 40, then suddenly he was overcome by the desire to become a long-lived person and abruptly changed his habits?

- 40 years is the limit. By 40, we can forgive our bad habits. After that, no. 40 years is a wonderful age for a person to think about his lifestyle and start throwing away harmful habits. Also, we don't notice many things that are harmful to us. For example, long sitting in one place. If we lead a he althy lifestyle, if we do sports or walk every day, we fulfill the recommendation to move 150 minutes a week. But according to recent research, this is not enough! It has been proven that if a person moves 150 minutes a week and sits the rest of the time, it is dangerous for he alth. In general, people in this plan are divided into two large groups. Those who sit less than 6 hours and those who sit more than 8 hours a day.

This doesn't mean we can't work in the office for 8-10 hours. Get up from the chair every 50 minutes and for 10 go for a walk, or go to the toilet, for example. It's easy and you'll beat the bad habit. I will bring you the following fact: those who sit for no more than 6 hours a day and move every hour for 5-10 minutes have the chance to live 5 years longer than others who sit for 8 hours or more without any movement at all. Moreover, if you have a normal or slightly increased body mass index, the 5-year supplement will increase to 7 years.

Talk about the Harvard study that has been going on for 75 years

- Invited people from different social strata: students from the most famous universities in America, from well-off families with good access to medicine, and also ordinary people

middle and low income

Some were he althier, others less he althy. The scientists measured many different indicators. And for 75 years they watched how people's he alth changed. Does it really depend on finances, women, vacations, etc. And they discovered something amazing. The largest percentage of long-lived people turned out to be among people who had two or three close people next to them. This turned out to be a decisive factor in terms of longevity and he alth! This fact shocked the entire medical world. The love of loved ones literally saves people from dementia, from Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, from obesity, from diabetes. That is, a person can develop all these diseases, but will not die from them. Because he maintains his he alth and lives longer.

Female gender is the main factor for longevity. This is simply explained. Every person has sex chromosomes. In men and women, all chromosomes are the same except for a pair. For women it is XX, and for men it is XX. That is, one cross, roughly speaking, lacks a leg. Men do not have this genetic material, ie. they are more vulnerable. This gives them some advantages in the struggle for survival, but not for longevity.

And what should a man do if he wants to live to be 120 years old?

- "To stick" to women. You probably also know elderly couples who live together, they lean on each other and go through life. A man is more likely to live long in marriage than in solitude. For women, it is the other way around – in marriage, their life expectancy is statistically less than if they remain alone.

Marriage balances everything

If they are happy together, the woman gives the man a part of her years…

We cannot miss oncology

- Yes, this is the payback for our longevity. As the French say, "everyone has their cancer, but not everyone will live to see it". But if a person after 40 changes his habits, 80% of cancer cases can be prevented. So 80% of our he alth depends on us and only somewhere 15-20% - on medicine.

- Why do men die earlier here, and in Eastern Europe in general? It's like something throws them off the rails after 60.

- There is a "theory of useful grandmothers" of biochemist Academician Skulachev. If a person feels useful, he lives longer. Why does a woman have menopause? Gynecologists in this regard are of one opinion: to give her the opportunity to take care of the grandchildren without being distracted by her own physiological fluctuations. In men, there is no pronounced climax, in them there is a kind of quiet extinction. They fail to readjust to get closer to the grandchildren, to the family.

When is the happiest age?

- The paradoxes of age are that with age, strangely enough, one becomes happier. Some believe that the happiest period is 18 years. But they forget that adolescence is associated with many problems, and against the background of the hormonal explosion. What is now called the "third age", ie. 50 years - this is the second 25 years. During this period, both socially and physiologically, everything is already decided. The children have grown up, you are already free from the first program, so to speak: education, family, career, work - you are free from all this in principle and can do what you really want. I will give you a vivid example in this regard: I know of a woman who, after 80 years, started a career as a flight attendant. Only here with us, in our geographical latitudes, there are age restrictions, there is no such thing in the world. They start skydiving after 80, demonstrate modern clothes. The most important thing is not to limit oneself. Limitation exists only in our consciousness.

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