Hey Ghostrider,
Did you choose your user name based on a track on Rush's vapor trails? It's a pretty good song I think.
Okay, onto your question.
Current evidence suggests that optimal diet (including supplements, of course) and exercise can give you a lifespan beyond 90.
Supporting data from that recent Harvard study in which data was independently pooled from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
[quote name='http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/nyregion/12longevity.html)']New York Times
September 12, 2006
Bergen County, N.J., Is Long in Longevity
By RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA
People live longer in Bergen County, N.J. — an average of about 80 years — than in any other county in the northeastern United States, according to a Harvard study released yesterday that compares life expectancy in counties across the country.
And Asian-American women in Bergen County have the longest average lifespan, 91 years, of any racial group in the nation, said the authors — from the Harvard School of Public Health — of the study, which appears in the new issue of the journal PLoS Medicine.
Regional disparities in longevity have grown over the last two decades, the researchers found, as the places with the longest-lived populations made the greatest gains. A few places, in Appalachia and the Mississippi Delta, lost ground.
“I think the people at the top are increasingly benefiting from improving technology more than the people at the bottom,” said Dr. Christopher J. L. Murray, the chief author. Much of the difference among counties, he said, appears to stem from differences in things like tobacco and alcohol use, obesity, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
“Surprisingly, the regional differences have less to do with the elderly than with chronic disease and premature death in young and middle-aged adults,” he said. “Once you get to 65, there isn’t as big a difference across these groups.”The study found several places where affluent, mostly white suburban counties with relatively long average life spans sit side-by-side with counties that are poorer, more urban and less white.
In New York State in 1999, the most recent year in the study, Westchester was the longest-lived county, at an average of 79.5 years, while next door, the Bronx had the shortest average lifespan, 75.0 years.
Across the entire New York region, the lowest average life expectancy was 74.7 years in Essex County, which includes Newark, while adjacent Bergen County had an average of 79.9 years, higher than any county north of Maryland and east of the Mississippi River.
But there were dozens of places in the nation that fared better, including affluent suburban counties in California, Virginia and Maryland and several counties in Hawaii. Montgomery County, Md., near Washington, was one of 10 counties tied with the highest figure, 81.3 years.
Yet the largest number of counties with long life expectancies were rural areas with below-average incomes in the mountain states of the West and the northern plains states — particularly Colorado, Minnesota and Iowa.
Several counties in South Dakota with mostly Native American populations had the lowest average, 66.6 years. The next-lowest average was in Baltimore, at 68.6 years.
“Those regional differences are akin to what we see between the highly developed, high-income countries and some developing countries,” Dr. Murray said.
Many other national studies have shown disparities among races, with Asian-Americans living longest, followed by whites and Hispanics, and blacks having the shortest life spans.
But the Harvard researchers highlighted the figure for Asian-American women in Bergen County, an average life expectancy of 91.1 years — a number that Dr. Murray called extraordinary, even in light of the longer life spans of Asian-Americans and women. It was the highest average the researchers found anywhere in the country for any racial subgroup in a county with a large enough number of deaths to be considered statistically significant.
The figures in the study come from two federal agencies, the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They cover the years 1980 to 1999, with each year’s numbers actually representing a 5-year “rolling average” (for example, the 1999 statistics represent data collected from 1997 through 2001).
Dr. Murray said that the center for health statistics had stopped including counties in its death records in 2001.[/quote]
Then there was that JAMA article which suggests that green tea in the diet reduces mortality rates in an 11 year study in humans:
Green Tea Consumption and Mortality -- encouraging.
These two reports are both worthy of note. Let me take a clip from an LA times article in bold below:
[quote name='http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-sci-lifespan12sep12']Life Span Gap Just Keeps Growing
Income isn't much of a factor, researchers report. But tobacco, alcohol and obesity are.
By Thomas H. Maugh II
Times Staff Writer
September 12, 2006
The life spans of the healthiest Americans are more than 30 years longer than those of the least healthy, despite more than two decades of efforts to reduce the disparities, Harvard researchers reported Monday.
At one end of the scale are Asian American women living in Bergen County, N.J., who have an average life expectancy of 91 years, according to the report published Monday in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
At the other extreme are Native Americans in South Dakota, whose average life expectancy is 58 years. "That's comparable to the life expectancy in Southeast Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa," said Richard M. Suzman, associate director of the National Institute on Aging, which partially funded the study.
The difference is not directly related to income, insurance, infant mortality, AIDS or violence. Rather, the contributing factors, in order of importance, are tobacco, alcohol, obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diet and physical inactivity, said Dr. Christopher J. L. Murray of the Harvard School of Public Health, who led the study."Those seven are likely to explain a lot of the patterns that we see," he said. "They also give us some hints about the types of public health and medical care interventions that could make a difference in these disparities."
The life-span disparities are so severe that the researchers concluded that there are "eight Americas," each with its own racial, geographic, income, and life expectancy. The report did not separate out Latinos.
"There are millions of Americans that have life spans the same as in developing countries," Murray said. "That alone is pretty remarkable, considering we spend $5,000 a year per person on healthcare."
The data show that the gaps between groups have not been closing over the last two decades. If anything, they are increasing, Murray said, despite a series of policy initiatives.
"In simple terms, there has been a lot of discussion and effort, but no progress," he said.
Briefly, the eight Americas are defined as:
• 10.4 million Asians, average per capita income $21,566, in 1,889 counties, life expectancy 84.9 years.
• 3.6 million low-income whites in 112 rural counties in the Northern Plains and Dakotas, average income $17,758, life expectancy 79 years.
• 214 million middle-income Americans scattered through the country, average income $24,640, life expectancy 77.9 years.
• 16.6 million low-income whites in 467 rural counties in Appalachia and the Mississippi Valley, average income $16,390, life expectancy 75 years.
• 1 million western Native Americans in 359 counties, average income $10,029, life expectancy 72.7 years.
• 23.4 million middle-income black Americans in 1,632 counties, average income $15,412, life expectancy 72.9 years.
• 5.8 million southern low-income blacks in 427 rural counties, average income $10,463, life expectancy 71.2 years.
• 7.5 million high-risk urban blacks in 13 urban counties with the highest homicide rates, average income $14,800, life expectancy 71.1 years.
When the data is broken down by counties, the lowest life expectancy, 66.6 years, is found in Bennett, Jackson, Mellette, Shannon, Todd and Washabaugh counties in South Dakota — all areas with large, reservation-based Native American populations.
The counties with the longest life span, 81.3 years, are Clear Creek, Eagle, Gilpin, Grand, Jackson, Park and Summit counties in Colorado, Montgomery County, Md., and Lyon and Sioux counties in Iowa.
The gap has been growing since 1984, Murray said. "The counties that started the best just keep getting better. Those at the bottom either stayed the same or got worse."
According to the state data, Hawaii is the healthiest, with a combined life span for men and women of 80 years.
The District of Columbia is the worst, with a life expectancy of 72 years.
It is followed by Mississippi, 73.6 years, Louisiana, 74.2 years, Alabama, 74.4 years, and South Carolina, 74.8 years.
California ranks 10th with a combined male and female life expectancy exceeding 78.2 years.
Personal choices may be more important than access to medical care, Murray added.
Although 85% of the population has health insurance, half of those with high blood pressure fail to get it controlled, he said. Two-thirds of those with high cholesterol do not receive statins to bring it down and two-thirds of those with diabetes fail to get it managed, he added.[/quote]
If you note, it appears that up to a 30 difference in lifespan can be attributed to strictly lifestyle issues (ignoring genetic factors implied by racial difference), including diet, exercise, whether or not one smokes or drinks (sure ways to get a quick death!). That's quite shocking.
This article was discussed in further detail
here.
Regarding Resveratrol specifically, there has been quite a bit of recent encouraging research.
Red Wine May Cut Risk of Colorectal CancerAlso encouraging was the recent news that shows a significant increase in lifespan in mice from Dr. Sinclair from Harvard Medical School -- the results of which are discussed
here. If you read the linked thread you will note Mind inquired from Dr. Sinclair his dosages and reported on the second page.
For info on some other supplements that seem to be safe, effective, and have substantial evidence to support an "anti aging" classification (I guess)...see:
fish oils -- "Even with contaminants, seafood called good for you" and
News Flash: Anti-aging supplements don't work ...
There may be some more...but these are a good start...