Genetics and Final Thoughts on Aging

In all the complexities of the universe There is one thing we know for certain about life And that's that it ends That's right, we are all going to die one day and we might not know how, we might not know when, but Like it or not Big fella with the Black Hood will eventually come a knocking for us all Is there a way to delay the inevitable swing of his scythe Pal. Some people reckon that they might have found the cheat codes to longevity and they might not. quite what you'd expect Want to learn the secrets to sticking around for a good time And a long time This is the shorthand Much of modern research into life expectancy traces back to one guy nineteenth century English mathematician Benjamin In eighteen twenty five, he created the Gomperz Lw that provides mathematical proof we might call, stating the obvious Han mortality rates increase exponentially with age C's model says that for adults between thirty and ninety, your risk of dying roughly doubles every seven to eight years Surely things have changed since then, right Yes and no Thanks to advancements in healthcare and technology People are now expected to live a hell of a lot longer than they were back when Mr. Gompts was knocking about Back in the eighteen hundreds, no country had a life expectancy higher than forty thanks to dire infant mortality rates, mainly with fifteen percent of all UK babies dying before the age of one Nowadays, the average global expectancy is over seventy these changes haven't kept the grrim Reaper completely at bake While you might be less likely to pop your clogs as a toot Age related diseases like diabetes and cancer also become increasingly common as we live longer even with medical intervention, the body's biological ability to fight back and recover from these illnesses naturally decreases as you age So, as a rule, Gompz's law continues to hold up today and is still widely used by life insurance companies to figure out how much you might need to cough up for your premiums. Which brings us to our next big question Is there a biological limit to how long humans can actually live Science generally says that yes, there is Many biologists believe that the absolute maximum age a human can reach is somewhere between one hundred and fifteen and one hundred and twenty five years. Beyond this point, your organs would just lose any ability to recover from illness and stress known as resilience and just shut down How they know this for sure Well, It's simple as far as we know No one has ever done it Data shows that the oldest people tend to start dropping like for lies around the hundred and fifteen year mark And nobody's ever made it to one hundred and twenty five. The oldest male in verified history was Jim Ryun Kimura from Japan who passed away in twenty thirteen at the ripe old age of one hundred and sixteen years and fifty four days and the longest ther verified human life belonged to a French lady Dave Jan K Calmment whoo made it to an impressive one hundred and twenty two years and one hundred and sixty four days old in nineteen ninety seven She attributed her longevity to chocolate after dinner cigarettes, olive oil, and just to mix it up a little bit Daily fruit salads. We're going to come back to Jean's story in a little bit because them Oh there that meets the eye Enough looking into the past. What about the future? Everyone agrees on how long our flesh sacks could hypothetically keep going Global researchers have recently used a computer model to suggest the actual upper ceiling off a human being could be one hundred and fifty years based on studies into resilience and recovery in the body Now that might sound mental But in fact, previous predictions about lifespan have consistently been smashed over the years. Back in nineteen twenty one, scientists claimed to have proven that nobody could live beyond one hundred and five at which point we can only assume that Gene Kalmatt said Hope my sake at my fruit snacks Now with that mind, many argue that advances in the modern world mean that we can reasonably expect young people born today It's left far longer than we will And some crazy cats even argue that there's no biological limit at all. Australian biologist Dr. David Sinclair believes the body's cells retain information from their past life like memories. and future therapies could potentially restore those functions Essentially, every human body possesses a backup copy of all of its genes. and by accessing this We could effectively biohck our way to immortality. Dr. Sinclair recckons, this is something we might be able to do realistically in the next fifty to seventy years. Although critics argue this theory relies on future tech that doesn't exist yet With that said, new treatments are currently being tested like the immunosuppressant wrapomycin which has been found to extend lifespans of mice. by up to fifteen percent. And then there's the diabetes drug, metaformin, which could transform the aging process as we know it. They're thought to help the body fight cell decay by working with protein recycling cells and the immune system Still, these medicines are in the very early stages of development and are mainly being pursued as a way to increase the years of healthy life for aging adults rather than actually increasing the maximum lifespan beyond current estimates Uness you were literally born yesterday, in which case, good fucking luck All these future projections probably aren't going to help much with your personal quest to reach the century mark Which begs the question How can those of us Who aren't getting any younger d? now Well, according to some research, Home is more than just where the heart is, it actually plays a surprisingly big role in how long you're likely to last Demographic studies have consistently found massive differences in life expectancy depending on where people live In the UK alone, there can be gaps of years between different regions, towns and even neighborhoods within the same city. Why iss that? Well? really necessarily the location, it's everything that comes with it Things like income, access to healthcare, pollution, diet, stress, employment, housing, exercise opportunities all vary depending on where you call home So unfortunately, one of the most reliable ways to boost your odds of living longer appears to be the same as boosting your odds of just about anything else in this world Try not to be poor, you disgusting peasant Okay, listen. We know you're listening to this because maybe you want some actual solutions And so far, we've kind of failed to deliver We do have a bit of good news on the horizon reesesearchers have noticed that in certain pockets of the world People don't just tend to kick the bucket a little bit later than average appear to live significantly longer Welcome to the world's so called Blue Zones The term, coined by author and explorer, Dan Bututner, in the two thousands refers to areas across the globe that stick out for having high numbers of centenarians, so people over a hundred years old. than you would expect given the general population And these are the islands of Okkinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy. and Icaria in Greece The Nioyia Peninsula of Costa Rica and the hillside city of Lo Melinda in California So what the hell is in the water in these magical places People doing weird anti aging treatments out of the substance, or dunking themselves in cryogenic vats of ice to preserve their youth even as their cultures differ places appear to have in common Is their adherence to a healthy and fulfilling lifestyle that prioritizes fresh air, regular walks Healthy balanance plant based diet and a mindful approach to life. Blue Zone's founder Dan Bututner identifies the four core tens shared by each of these communities as moveove right outlet Eat wisely and connect. In other words Blue signs run on the unglamorous combination, off eating your greens, stretching your legs, hugging your pals and not stressing yourself into an early grave Finally, a longevity plan that doesn't involve injecting yourself with your son's own blood So let's get specific. How do the golden Oies In all of these regions, Chilli make it work. In Okinawa, longevity is often attributed to the concepts of Ikigai a Japanese word that roughly translates to reason for being. and Mui meeting for a common purpose In other words, they make an effort to live purposefully and socially So rather than just curling up and waiting to die, these sprrightly seniors remain active and engaged in their community long past retirement age In Costa Rica's Nikooya Peninsula, they have their own version of Ikigai Aud. Lan devita. which essentially translates to a strong sense of purpose Close family bonds As for the Sardinians Along with necking copious amounts of red wine, their secret might actually lie in spending decades doing accidental cardio The island's Ogliastra area is especially known for its intensely hilly terrain That means that residents can't exactly skip Lg day brings some serious health benefits with it Ogliastra stands out among the blue zones for its high rate of male centenarians. who seem to have beaten the genetic curse of heart disease, which largely affects men Then we've got the idyllic Greek Isle of Icaria And the answer there is more on the Zen side The island's famously slow pace of life, with residents enjoying afternoon naps and refusing to rush for Anone actually been linked to their impressive longevity California's Low Melinda. is the odd one out because it's not an island, but many of its residents do belong to a distinct religious sect called the Seventh day Adventist Church Members generally abstain from smoking or drinking, they eat vegetarian diets, and they prioritize rest, including a weekly Sabbath where they take their feet off the proverbial gas. I could be wrong here, but I'm also P're pretty sure they don't intervene if children choke seems to be working out. Qote me, don't quote me. So much present I've lived a good life And all of those lifestyle factors seem to lead to a longer life, on average before you start browsing properties in Sardinia and brushing up on your Greek You might want to hold your horses Because not everyone is exactly sold on the Blue Zones theory. In twenty twenty four, science writer Ignatio Amigo said it rested on shaky science and pointed out. How the whole Theory has spawned a cottage industry of books, diet plans, and even a Netflix series. All lapped up by consumers keen to learn the supposed secret to delaying death Dan Butner has even commercialized the idea into a multi million dollar business called Blue Zones LLC that sells a utopian dream to communities across the US And Dr. Saul Justin Newman of UCL reckons a theory isn't just overhyped But it might also be built on a whopping lie. Newman argues that the blue zones onene big thing in common sketchy records Data indicating High quotas of centenarians in these areas could in fact be skewed by outdated records making it seem like people are living insanely long lives Take the case of Japan's sogun keto Hose record, as the country's oldest living person, was blown to shreds when his mummified remains were found in twenty ten As it turned out, it popped its clogs back in nineteen seventy eight But his family had been pocketing his pension for the past thirty odd years. inadvertently drew quite a lot of attention to themselves by making him the oldest person in Japan. The discovery actually led Japan to conduct a review into its two hundred thirty thousand centenarians only to learn that a shocking eighty two percent already dead or missing Oh dar Okay, so We need to get a bit more personal here To figure out how to live to one hundred, we need to hear it straight from the horse's mouth So what do the oldest people in the world have to say about their staying power For an oldest living person is a British lady called Mtha was born on the twenty first of august nineteen oh nine. at the time, we're recording this episode. She is an incredible one hundred sixteen years and two hundred ninety eight Days old Mll credits her long life to, quote, never arguing with anyone. I listen and I do what I like She also advises people to say yes to every opportunity positive mental attitude and to do everything in moderation Get it Ethel It's all solid advice, but for the really good stuff, we are gonna have to go all the way to the top To the Grandarme of the oldest People Club, Frances Jean Calmont To put it into perspective just how especially epically long her life was Queen Victoria still had twenty six years left on the throne when Jean was born in eighteen seventy five By the time of her death, in nineteen ninety seven, humans had fought two world wars, landed on the moon, and invented the internet When Jean was born in Arles in eighteen seventy five, the average life expectancy was just forty three, which she smashed by nearly eighty years She proudly told reporters that she had Never, never been ill and most famously equipped I only have one wrinkle and I'm sitting on it Jean put her longevity down to staying active and engaged and refused to give up cycling until her one hundredth birthday Je Kelmut's extreme age did present a dilemma to researchers Because not only did she outlive everyone else She did it by a lot A one hundred and twenty two She lived more than three years longer than the next oldest verified person A Japanese woman named Kane Tanaka So unsurprisingly Gean's position as an outlier in the data has raceer eyebrows And in twenty eighteen, two Russian researchers put forward the bombshock clane The gene. wasasn't exactly who she said she was Instead, she was the real Jean's supposedly long dead daughter. Yv on Calmin Officially, Yvonne tragically died of pleurusy in nineteen thirty four, aged just thirty six. But according to skeptics, it was actually Jean who died at fifty night at which point Yvonne took on her mother's identity and lived the rest of her life as this impossibly old woman potentially to avoid paying hefty inheritance taxes If true Yvonne would have died age ninety nine, which is still a cracking innings, but not quite the oldest woman in the world territory as juicy as the daughter switch theory is, it's never actually been proven Jean's family insists it's a lie and the French authorities still believe her birth certificate and her verification documents are the real deal So as far as we know, Gean Kelmer is legit And unless someone proves it with a DNA test, she keeps her title as the oldest verifiable person in human history controversy around those who make it to an insanely old age Maybe it's worth taking it back to basics and looking at what we can really do now, us youngs, us spry spring chickens to stay healthy the longer. Traditional wisdom says longevity starts in the kitchen Over the years, nutritionists have cycled through a revolving door of so called super foods, promising miracle life extending benefits From asse berries to kale. I've never known how to say that assie, assi, Aai, I'm gonna die, whatever We've all dutifully chucked them into our smoothies, perhaps to no avail. Meanwhile, research is increasingly linking ultra processed foods to certain cancers And we know that red meat is best in moderation unless you want your heart to explode And there is obviously another thing we know for sure, regular physical activity Even just daily walks can add up to seven years to your lifespan by helping your body prevent and fight disease So it goes without saying that if you want to increase your chances of getting a letter from the King, then lifestyle and diet is a good place to start. But honestly, really consider it. Murel, as I keep banging on about, is a hundred, fucking miserable. No, thank you Speaking of yourural, it turns out you can't choose your family and when it comes to longevity, this is one sticky factor that unfortunately, no amount of green juice can ever overcome Global researchers estimate that our genes account for roughly twenty to thirty percent of the differences in how long people live. So I'm fucked, the women they live for fucking ever So, a family history of cancer or diabetes already puts you at a disadvantage that you might not be able to outrun by putting down roots in a so called blue zone And the genetic lottery doesn't stop there It also ties to your biological sex Global research shows that women tend to live between three to seven years longer than men which is thought to come down to a mixture of biological and social factors Women have two X chromosomes. so a mutation on one can be offset by the other We also produce more estrogen, regulating cholesterol and protecting our hearts against disease until menapause. which is a bigiggie since men are fifty percent more likely to die from it. Socially speaking, it's also been joked that men die sooner because, well tend to do more dumb shit And believe it or not There might actually be solid evidence behind this theory Some researchers call it biological destiny. linking testosterone to risk taking parts of the brain involved in judgment develop more slowly in boys This may help to explain higher rates of accidents and violence among young men Lifestyle data also suggests that men are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, avoid preventative healthcare in more risky jobs like military or construction. And they're statistically around three times more likely to commit suicide than women So if you're a woman, congratulations. You've already ticked off one advantage in the race to one hundred So what have we actually learned Well Basically, we found a lot of clues, but no actual cheat codes Sure, it might be a good idea to renew that gym membership and give a bit more thought to what you're putting inside yourself, your hore There's no single way to beat your own personal genetic lottery. At the end of the day, there is absolutely nothing we can do to outsmart death because sometimes He comes disguised as his shitty bitchy cousin And your sins will find you out in the end Call it luck, call it chance, call it whatever you want. It does not matter. You could be as healthy as a horse and still get hit by a bus tomorrow Or you could smoke fifty fags a day and survive to one hundred Life's just a bitch that way, so try not to stress too much about every gram of everything you're eating because that's just not a lifeive. Don't make yourself miserable. And after all the studies' theories and so called miracle cures, nobody has ever actually managed to do the impossible and get out of this place alive Not even Gean Kalmont Although she did give it a bloody good go. So honestly, life is too short to worry about it that much and also too long. what are you doing spending every second of your time on eararth Worrying about how long you're gonna stay. Just have three glasses of wine, Stehven. I think it just comes back to what Mr. Blue Zones was trying to sell us, but you don't need to buy his books or into Blue Zones LLC to do it Just move your body, have some mates, eat well do everything in moderation and tryry not to stress about everything Stress is the worst thing you can do to yourself, so think about that first, probably. And we will see you next week For something else. unless we get hit by a bus. Goodbye. goodoodby