Pension crash: can you extend your youth to 60 years old
The Network continues to discuss the sensational statement by the head of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency, Veronika Skvortsova, that due to changes in age limits, the period of youth will be extended to 60 years in the future. Many Russians took these words with enthusiasm, but some people find them too bold. Is it possible to live long and still remain young, beautiful and healthy - in the material "Izvestia".
Genetic predisposition
According to the classification of the World Health Organization, young is now considered the age of up to 45 years, says the chief freelance geriatrician of the Ministry of Health of Russia, director of the Russian State Geriatric Center of the N.I. Pirogov Russian National Medical University, Professor Olga Tkacheva. And back in 2021, the upper age limit of youth was only up to 35 years.
- Now, in principle, the approach to age limits is changing. Even a person aged 60 can be considered young if his biological age corresponds to, say, 40 years," Olga Tkacheva told Izvestia. - When we talk about whether a person is young, old or elderly, it is the state of health and the function of his organs and systems that matters, not the chronological age.
The professor emphasizes that the aging process goes at different speeds in people. At the beginning of life, we grow and develop in approximately the same way, but when we reach the peak of development, everyone ages in a different trajectory: some very quickly, others slowly.
According to the geriatrician, genetics determines the speed of aging only by 15-20%. And the rest is social factors and lifestyle. Our education, nutrition, climate, daily regimen, sleep, physical activity and other things matter.
However, when it comes to long-livers, a different pattern comes into play: the contribution of genetics to longevity is already much greater. Vadim Zorin, a laureate of the Russian Government Prize in Science and Technology, Skolkovo expert, PhD in Biology, emphasizes that people aged 95 and older are considered long-livers, and it is genetic predisposition and gender that influence life expectancy.
- The richest people of the Earth invest billions in the development of artificial intelligence, hire the best scientists to find approaches to longevity and eternal youth. Perhaps they will succeed. But in gerontology there is such an expression: to be a long-lived person, you need to be born a man and you need to be born a woman," says Vadim Zorin.
According to the expert, among long-livers there are twice as many women as men. The highest documented life expectancy is 122 years and 164 days - that's how long Frenchwoman Jeanne Calman lived.
Vadim Zorin reminds that, according to statistics, every third man in our country does not live to the age of 60, and 52% of the stronger sex leave life before 65. A 60-year-old Russian has plus or minus 15-16 years for the so-called survival, the expert notes. The average life expectancy of women in our country is 10 years higher than that of men, and this gap is one of the most significant in world statistics, the expert complains.
Scientists put forward various hypotheses of this discrepancy.
- For example, women have longer telomeres - areas at the ends of chromosomes. They are sometimes called "protective caps". Telomeres protect chromosomes from damage and from sticking together with other chromosomes. In addition, women have a more active process of autophagy - a mechanism that removes damaged and unnecessary parts of cells, which helps to restrain the aging process, - comments Olga Tkacheva.
But there is also a less complicated explanation: women are more committed to a healthy lifestyle and are generally more attentive to their health. Ladies are less addicted to alcohol, move more actively, go to the doctor on time and strictly fulfill all the prescriptions of doctors.
Why women age faster
However, if longevity is the prerogative of women, then men have their own advantage: they are visually preserved better than ladies. In this they are helped by the hormone testosterone, which works for them almost all their lives. In addition, men have higher bone mineral density and muscle mass. Women's youthfulness is protected by hormones until menopause.
- During menopause, women's estrogen levels drop dramatically, which accelerates the aging process. Men do not have such a period in their lives, because the hormone level, if it decreases, it decreases very slowly," explains Olga Tkacheva.
Decrease in the level of estrogen in the blood leads to the fact that women have an increased risk of developing chronic diseases - cardiovascular, diabetes, obesity. Menopause leads to such problems as dry skin, wrinkles, hair loss, brittle nails.
- Unlike men, aging affects women very strongly, and first of all it affects the skin: women have thinner skin, - says Vadim Zorin. - Men are literally thick-skinned, so their turgor (water regime) is better, and the skin sags later.
According to the geriatrician, to restrain negative processes in a difficult period for women helps healthy lifestyle, as well as menopausal hormone therapy. So, in a sense, it is still possible to resist the inexorable flow of time. But the advantages of men are nullified if they are subject to bad habits, do not look after themselves and their health, and physical activity prefer the couch. Thus, for the right not only to be considered young in adulthood, but also to look like it will have to fight for both.
The main enemies of youth
According to Zorin, prevention of diseases, in particular tumor diseases, is especially important for a long and quality life - not all Russians undergo regular medical check-ups that allow to detect problems at an early stage. The expert considers high blood pressure, cholesterol and type II diabetes to be the main enemies of health and, consequently, beauty and youth.
- Almost all problems of this kind are associated with excessive weight and appear if you are fond of abundant fatty foods, refined foods and sweets with protein deficiency. As a preventive measure, nothing better than a proper diet has been invented yet," says the expert.
In order to improve the quality of life, Vadim Zorin also advises to give up alcohol and smoking and actively engage in physical exercise. Any person in the absence of bad habits, using modern medicine, has a certain chance to look young and live to 87 years.
Scientists are optimistic. Average life expectancy is steadily increasing in all countries of the world, emphasizes Olga Tkacheva. It is indicative that over the last 100 years it has increased by three decades. According to Rosstat, in 2022 life expectancy in Russia will increase by 2.7 years - then this indicator reached 72.8 years. And in 2023 - 73.5. Geriatrician believes that now Russia has all the prerequisites for further growth.
- And in those countries where life expectancy is already approaching 90 years (Japan, Australia, Italy, Switzerland), the growth of this indicator has recently slowed down. Apparently, this is due to the fact that we have already reached a certain ceiling and the medical technologies known today will not allow us to jump above this level. To further increase life expectancy, we need new scientific technologies - technologies to manage the aging process," Tkacheva comments.
While science has not yet mastered new horizons, we need to use a "technology" that is available to everyone and costs virtually nothing - a healthy lifestyle. Everyone can control their weight, exercise and give up bad habits.
How to slow down brain aging
It is important not only to cross a certain age threshold, but also to remain active - physically, mentally, socially, warns Olga Tkacheva. The geriatrician emphasizes that the aging process is very complex: it involves a huge number of biologically active substances and various mechanisms. That is why the approach to slowing down the aging process should be complex.
Of particular interest is the problem of brain aging, which can also occur at different rates in different people. In some people it is pathological, i.e. accelerated. And others surprise doctors with phenomenal cognitive abilities.
- There are some people who are called superagers. Their brain functions (perception of new things, concentration, memory, decision-making speed) do not change with age. Superagers even at the age of 80 retain the same mental clarity as at 20. This is a very interesting phenomenon, and it is currently being studied," comments Olga Tkacheva.
There are many factors that preserve mental clarity. For example, the higher the level of education and social activity, the slower the brain ages, the expert notes. Brain aging slows down when a person is actively engaged in mental activity.
- If a person stops thinking, analyzing, reading and memorizing, his cognitive functions suffer. It's like with muscles: when they don't work, they begin to atrophy. The same thing happens with the brain. That is why cognitive training, social activity, and constant learning of new things slow down brain aging," says Olga Tkacheva.
Geriatrician also emphasizes the importance of physical activity, which is one of the most proven methods of slowing down brain aging.
- It seems, where is the brain and where are the muscles? But if we want to slow brain aging and stay young for a long time, we need to be very active physically. Muscles are a huge endocrine organ that produces a large amount of myokines - biologically active substances that slow down the aging process, have a powerful anti-inflammatory effect, and have a positive effect on metabolism," comments Olga Tkacheva.
How to train in old age
Vadim Zorin considers strength training to be the basis of rejuvenating physical activity (in addition to aerobic and cardio exercises). The earlier to take up dumbbells and weights, the better, but if a person caught up in 50 or even 60 years, then even then it is not too late, says the expert. The main thing is the regularity of exercise.
- The fact is that with age we catastrophically lose muscle tissue - this phenomenon is called sarcopenia. And fatty tissue increases, in addition, it seems to be located between the muscles, and when the muscles contract, the blood supply is disrupted. Regular strength training strengthens and increases muscle tissue," comments Vadim Zorin.
According to the doctor, sarcopenia is often additionally accompanied by osteoporosis, in which bone tissue becomes fragile, and then any fall threatens to fracture. Here too, kettlebells, dumbbells and a tourniquet come to the rescue. Thanks to strength exercises osteoblasts (stem cells that form this tissue) begin to synthesize collagen type one, so it strengthens.
Alla Zorina, a physician-biochemist, regenerative medicine specialist, Skolkovo resident, also advises to bet on sports - physical activity is necessary primarily for the health of the cardiovascular system. It is also important that certain types of activity even contribute to the production of stem cells in the bone marrow and improve brain activity, which ultimately also prolongs youth.
The doctor does not recommend pinning hopes only on running, which is popular nowadays. According to Zorina, this type of physical activity in general should be practiced very carefully by 40-50 years old, when the spine is already undergoing undesirable changes that can lead to unpleasant consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to engage in running only after a thorough examination, and its technique is better to master with specialists.
- Most of those over 50 are better suited to walking - sports, and even better Scandinavian, - says Alla Zorina. - But not with a strolling step, but with so-called cardiologic walking - with a certain heart rate and with sticks that are properly matched to their height and technique.
Alla Zorina emphasizes that special sticks relax the spine and help to relieve the extra load, which in normal walking experience the knees. And the therapeutic effect comes if you walk a distance of at least 5 kilometers and walk for at least 40 minutes. There are no age limits in this respect.
