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So you want to live to one hundred and beyond, therefore you want to find out ways of doing it. There is no secret method for getting there, however there will be a lot of lifestyle prescriptions giving you a higher probability. Plus because more people at this time are becoming centenarians our practical experience of just what enables people to live longer is growing. There are actually things that are becoming more evident the more we learn, and there are things that are unknown, which we are going to investigate at this time. A lot of us take a look at what they imagine life of a centenarian to be, and they think "no thanks". Most people associate aging with aches and pains, memory loss plus loneliness. Yet we currently are seeing what life as an aging person really is, and it just isn't all that dreary. We now understand that the more senior the age group illness onset also comes along later, and they're quite fit until very close to the end of their lives. And a person's odds of reaching the 100 year mark are rising every day and it is projected will continue to increase. If you are now a baby boomer your chances of hitting 100 years is just about 4%, but children born right now have about a 25% likelihood. About eight out of every nine centenarians will be women. These generally are a few of the things we can do (or have no control over) to reach the century mark: 1. Just how old was your mother when you were born? According to an investigation carried out at the University of Chicago Center for Aging, you have two times the potential for reaching 100 years if your mom was under 25 when you were born. 2. Are you a happy and upbeat person? Many studies have shown that happy people live longer. We're not exactly certain how, but optimism and other positive thoughts tend to provide peace and augment the immune system. 3. Do you cope with stress and tension? Centenarians do not eliminate stress in their lives, but nonetheless have figured out how to manage it. For the most part they deal with the stress and quickly stick it in their history. 4. Do you tend to watch your diet and get a little exercise? If you are treating your body well with feeding it nutritious food, eliminating destructive foods and keeping the body vigorous, you actually increase your chances immensely. Realizing everything we are able to do, it also looks like it is factual that centenarians seem to have something as part of their genes that makes them different from average folks. They definitely age slower than average people. Looking at those who happen to be in excess of 100 years old, studies have shown if they take a snapshot of what their lives looked like at the time they were 70 is pretty illuminating. Over a third was overweight, with 8% falling in the obese classification. Over one-third smoked cigarettes, for an average for 31 years. Below half worked out somewhat, and another twenty percent never exercised. Clearly not what we think of as the ticket for getting old, nonetheless centenarians are generally a different class. There are many things we can do to help us become healthier and to age better, and exercise is certainly a big part of it. Seniors are now getting more into yoga and other exercises such as Pilates to keep young. Jim O'Connell is a writer and avid health advocate now living in Chicago.
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