The term “blue zones” refers to selected areas around the world where the proportion of people over 100 is highest. By studying these areas, it is believed that the results could lead to community initiatives to extend the lives of the population. I have written before about the work of the Blue Zones Project. This headline from a recent KFF Health News article caught my attention: “Good friends might be your best brain booster as you age.” The article was written by Judith Graham, a member of the Association of Health Journalists who focuses on aging. Among his subjects was Edith Smith, a retired Chicago teacher who describes herself as “a proud 103 year old.” Smith describes himself as “a very nice person.”
This immediately made me think of my mother, 102-year-old Wilma Norris Knight. She will soon turn 103, and she is also lively and very sociable. Like Smith, she is a spirited centenarian with an extraordinary memory for someone her age.
A study by researchers at Northwestern University suggests “a notable link between brain health and positive relationships,” Graham writes. “For nine years, these experts have been examining “SuperAgers”, men and women over 80 whose memory is as good, or better, than that of people 20 to 30 years younger. (…) Thirty-one older men and women with exceptional memories, primarily from Illinois and surrounding states, are currently participating in the project.
“Previous research by the Northwestern group has provided tantalizing clues that SuperAgers have distinctive brain features: thicker cortices, resistance to age-related atrophy, and a larger left anterior cingulate (a part of the brain important for attention and working memory). Graham writes. “But brain structure alone does not fully explain the unusual mental acuity of SuperAgers.” Social relationships are also essential for maintaining cognition. To quote Proverbs 27:9, “The gentleness of a friend comes from his sincere counsel.” We want friendships. We can view them as something of great value. Yet at the same time we are told that we are facing a “friendship recession.”
According to Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, in an interview with Big Think, “the ideal number of close friends is around three or four. …Today, 15 percent of young men say they don’t have a close friend.” Loneliness, he says, is comparable to smoking cigarettes in terms of negative health effects. According to a US News report on the American Psychiatric Association’s latest monthly Healthy Minds survey, among American adults, one in ten report feeling lonely every day.
Right as Rain, a digital publication from UW Medicine, recently reported that even if a person is “connecting with friends on social media, engaged at work, and often surrounded by people,” they can still feel lonely.
“Loneliness is the perception of not having enough relationships and interactions with others,” says Dr. Sebastian Tong, a physician in the Family Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center. “It’s about how the individual perceives things.”
According to the Right as Rain report, “the US surgeon general called loneliness a public health problem as early as 2017,” particularly before the pandemic. “Census data between 2014 and 2019 found that the time Americans spent with their friends decreased each year. … It’s no surprise that a recent study found that 20% of young adults are alone.”
According to the National Council on Aging, adults 65 and older “are one of the fastest growing groups in the country, expected to reach 80.8 million in 2040.” What young people often forget when trying to shake off the burden of loneliness is that they have a lot to learn from older people.
As a 2021 blog post from the faith-based nonprofit healthcare organization Providence notes, “studies have shown that older adults are less likely to experience anxiety, depression, and stress related to a pandemic. and skills that have helped them meet challenges for many decades. »
According to Dr. Maureen Nash, “They have spent their entire lives overcoming difficult and difficult situations and the only way to get through them is to be resilient… “the ability to thrive in the face of extreme challenges.” »
“(Resilience) can help you recognize changes in your behavior that have a positive or negative impact,” Providence’s message continues. “Older adults can often recognize life’s difficulties without losing sight of why they want to continue living. They also generally understand the need to express gratitude and forgiveness, rather than harbor past resentments, which can promote unhealthy aging,” says Nash.
I remember my mother’s inspiring autobiography, “Acts of Kindness: My Story.”
“We stay young in body by eating well and staying fit, but young in spirit by not settling for the status quo and continuing to move forward and progress,” she writes. “Despite our digital age, the young at heart are those who always challenge themselves, start fresh, face their fears, take risks and never give up.” As the saying goes: “At the end of the day, it’s not the years of your life that count. This is the life of your years. »
“It’s important to remember that just facing the bad things in life isn’t enough to build resilience,” Nash reminds us. “Creating positive connections with others and nurturing relationships that can withstand conflict can also help you build resilience. Having people to lean on in difficult times can make a huge difference in how you cope to problems.”
Follow Chuck Norris on his official social media sites, on Twitter @chucknorris and on the “Official Chuck Norris Page” on Facebook. He blogs at http://chucknorrisnews.blogspot.com. To learn more about Chuck Norris and read articles by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
Photo credit: Sasha Freemind at Unsplash
