A Dynamic Duo: Body And Mind

Together, They Can Conquer Anything

Courtesy: Physio Ed

A 77 year old woman breaks world records in marathons.

A 70 year old cardiologist who has studied healthy older adults for years finds fascinating evidence that genetics play no role whatsoever.

And research at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, confirms that older people are at a far greater risk of falling because they have balance issues but the issues can be resolved simply and easily.

The point of this: age is no barrier, in actuality. But it is perceived as a barrier in the mind.

Let’s begin with this idea of balance and falls.

The Mayo Clinic study was small, involving only 40 healthy males and females. Half were between 50 and 65. The other half were over 65.

The study measured balance, walking gait, balance and knee strength.

To no one’s great surprise, the study concluded that balance deteriorates rather significantly with age. What can be a litmus test for each of us is that the ability to balance on one leg can determine the chances of a fall and, given Murphy’s Law, that can happen at any time.

The senior author of the study is Kenton Kaufman, a musculoskeletal research professor at the Mayo Clinic.

He states bluntly, “if you have poor balance, you’re more likely to fall. If you can’t stand on your leg for five seconds, you’re at risk of falls,” Kaufman said. “If a person can stand on their leg for 30 seconds, they’re doing really well, especially if they’re older.”

Alas, for the study participants over age 65, that duration was only 11 seconds. It’s important to note that the non-dominant leg was the one being tested. But it’s always the weakest side of the body that can’t catch a fall.

Now here’s the good news: regular exercise (that old saw, again) is the key to improving balance. Kaufman suggests something like Tai Chi but there are many balance-testing poses in Yoga that can accomplish the same thing.

If neither of the ancient practices cited above appeal, then just stand on one leg for as long as possible. Start with your non-dominant leg because that will be the true indicator of your balancing ability.

The National Institute on Aging claims that 25% of older adults over 65 fall every year.

When my mother fell in her retirement residence, she broke three ribs. Granted she was 99 at the time but her balance hadn’t been good for years. The fall put her in hospital for a week. She suffered a terminal heart attack three days after returning to the retirement residence; the coroner said it was likely due to a blood clot that formed during her hospital stay.

While this is an anecdotal example, it reinforces the NIA’s claim.

Balance and the ability to walk (aka, “gait”) are closely linked. We’ll be featuring an interview with the CEO of GaitBetter, a company with an innovative product to help anyone with balance issues to walk more steadily, in the coming weeks.

And, last week on The Art 2 Aging, we had an interview with Mike Drak, a 70 year man with a single aim: regain his health. So, Mike has been training hard for an ironman event in Ottawa, Canada (the country to the north of the U.S. and NOT the “51^st state”). You can hear his story here.

A nice segue to the next item, that of a 77 year old woman who sets records running marathons all over the world.

Her name is Jeannie Rice and she has been running since her mid 30s. While this gives her an advantage, what’s remarkable is that advancing age has not slowed her down.

She set a world record in her age group at last year’s London Marathon and she has broken world women’s records in the 75-79 age group for every distance even, at times, beating the fastest men in that age group.

Because of her amazing performances, she has become a lab rat of sorts for scientists keen to figure out how she does it.

They have had her run on treadmills while measuring her oxygen consumption. She blew them away, by recording blood oxygen levels comparable to a 35 year old woman.

Injuries? She doesn’t know what those are, she says. Genetics? Now, this is interesting. Researchers studying her say that genetics might be a factor. But they’re not sure.

What they are sure about (and this gets us back to that old saw about exercise) is that consistent exercise, balanced training and recovery, and a healthy diet all combine to produce…HEALTH!

The notion that one might be predisposed genetically to outstanding health in later years doesn’t add up for Eric Topol, a 70 year old cardiologist in La Jolla, California.

When Topol was 53, he decided to try and figure out why some people seem to age without effort while others really struggle with advancing years.

He figured it was mostly down to genetics. So, over six years, he and some colleagues, sequenced the genomes of 1400 individuals in their 80s and up who were free of chronic diseases. He calls them “super agers.”

What he found was none of the 1400 shared any similar genetics at all.

So, what, then?

“Of all the things we know about, the one that rises to the very top is exercise. In fact, it’s the only intervention in people that has shown any effect on slowing the body-wide aging clock, meaning it appears to change how rapidly we age. Of course, other lifestyle factors, like diet and social interactions, are critically important. But if there is one thing that has the most exceptional evidence for healthy aging, it’s exercise,” he explains.

So, really, there is no getting around it; if you want to live well in your later years, you have to, first, let go of the false notion that your age is a barrier. To anything. It is just a number and it holds no power over you unless you grant it power.

Second, get out and move and do it with consistency. Do yoga for balance, stretching and overall calmness.

Third, use resistance training to maintain and grow muscle strength.

Fourth, walk, climb stairs, or, like Mike Drak, start training for an ironman!

Fifth, eat well.

Life can be simple if we want it to be.