Sugar Blossom

How Old Are You Really?

“My birth certi?cate was in the Bible and the goat ate the Bible.”

—Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige (1906–1982)

Your chronological age is your actual age in years from the date of your birth; however, what really matters is your physiological, or biological, age. This latter age is an estimate of your well-being and general health compared to others of your age and to those who are younger or older than you. People who are limited by health problems at ?fty are considered to be biologically older, while robust eighty-year-olds are “super-agers.”

While it would be great if you could easily calculate your likely life span, doing so is actually a complex process that we just brie? y touch on in this step. To determine your biological age, you need to take into account how long your close relatives have lived (e.g., parents, grandparents, and siblings), your health at birth, your rate of tissue aging, your attitudes and coping skills, and your current and past lifestyles.

Action Steps for Better Health Tip

You’re only as old as you feel. Your biological age is a much greater determinant of your longevity and vitality than your chronological age, so take control of your health sooner rather than later to lower the age that really matters and to feel younger.

How Much Your Genes Matter

Your genes apparently determine 20 to 50 percent of how long you will be alive. In the United States, women live about ? ve years longer than men. For women, the most accurate predictor of their genetic effect is chronological age at menopause. The mean age of menopause for American women is ?fty-two years, but in general, the later that menopause occurs, the longer a woman will live. If

you have not reached that time of your life yet, your mother’s age at menopause will give you a reasonable estimate of your expected menopause and probable genetic age.

In actuality, your genetic age is neither a direct determina­tion by your mother and father, nor the direct result of the gene mixture they gave you. Rather, your endowment with speci? c antiaging genes may enhance your longevity. For instance, if you have the certain genes associated with a more normal blood pres­sure, you have a better chance of living longer. Similarly, if you inherited certain genes associated with better fat metabolism, you will age more slowly that someone with other genetic character­istics that cause the body to deal with fat less effectively, which may be associated with increased heart attacks and a greater risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Other genes that have been suggested as players in aging include those associated with how well you deal with stress, or your body’s hormonal response to stress; your levels of growth hormone; how well your body controls levels of in?ammation, which are known to contribute to heart disease and diabetes; and your cells’ ability to produce energy. Mutations in DNA found in your cells’ power­houses, the mitochondria, may be associated with faster aging and the onset of diseases such as diabetes. While new longevity genes, or gerontogenes, are being discovered at an amazingly rapid rate, until the time that gene therapies are available to alter your genes for the better, it may not be that important, or comforting, to know what types of genes you inherited.

Action Steps for Better Health Tip

Your genes apparently determine 20 to 50 percent of how long you are going to live, which really means that 50 to 80 percent of your aging may be more directly under your control. Learn how to positively alter your internal and external in?uences, such as stress management, to enhance your longevity.