longevity? for peanuts

In the post previous to this one I referred to the book 'Remember' by Lisa Genova. In this book she also spoke often of the neurological side of Alzheimers disease. In particular, going into the details of the Amyloid plaque accumulation, how that happens, the fact that it accumulates until reaching a tipping point. Before the tipping point there is no evidence whatsoever of a disease, and after the tipping point the Alzheimers begins and there's no going back.

She mentions a few different things about this. Part of this accumulation of Amyloids could be hereditary and/or genetic, but there are definitely some behavioural factors that can increase the amount of plaque that is gunking up our synapses, or reduce the collection of amyloids.

I do not recall if there is a preferential order to these items, but the more of them that we do, the better off we are.

A good quality deep sleep is what clears out the amyloids; there is a specific process that she refers to in layman terms as a janitorial process that operates when we sleep. If it functions correctly, the amyloids get broken down and washed away avoiding the collection of them and avoiding the eventual build up that could eventually block the synapse. Even one night of bad sleep, lack of sleep or no sleep can cause a small amount of irreparable harm. Many nights in a row of bad sleep can cause more amyloids to stick around, which actually can poorly affect your sleep causing a positive feedback loop. Fortunately, I have very good sleeping habits and have been sleeping well through most of my life.

Exercise, especially cardiovascular, has a big benefit, though it isn't exactly clear how or why. Part of it is that with good exercise, sleep quality improves. I am a regular exerciser, so this is good.

What is known as a Mediterranean diet is the recommended diet. I know that I stray from this considerably so this is an area that I can work on.

She mentioned that doing things like crosswords and Sudoku are not generally good at creating new neurological pathways as these just reuse existing ones over and over again. She mentioned a few different things as examples of ways that new neural pathways, even in old age, can be created. Learn a new language, learn how to play piano (or any musical instrument) and continue to learn new songs, participate in new experiences, travel to new places, meet and engage with new people. So my plan is to definitely travel to new places and meet new people, accomplishing both of these by taking cruises once or twice a year. I will also soon start to learn how to play piano and commit to learning a song by heart, then learn a second, then be able to play both from memory, then learn a third, then be able to play all three from memory, and so on ad infinitum.

Now, outside of this book, there are other things that I think of when I think of health and longevity. 

A person's walking speed is a good indicator of how many more years of life left they have to live. As mature adults (say, ages 25-45) we would have a certain natural walking speed, or a slightly elevated walking speed that we can manage without any difficulty for prolonged periods. The longer we can keep that speed, the better.

Grip strength is another measure, mostly because it correlates with a large number of other healthy habits; so as long as I continue to do exercise, one of which maintains my grip strength, this is a measure that doctors will take as a general test.

Having a good social life is key to having a long life as study after study shows what not having a social life can do to a person. I do not yet have any specific plans to ensure I have a high quality social life in my later years, but this is definitely something I will try to keep in mind.

If our sense of hearing goes down, it becomes very important to get hearing aids as otherwise we will become less able to participate in conversation, which means less socializing, which means more of the downfalls that happen to us when we don't socialize enough.