Why You Should Check Your Blood Pressure Now
Nearly half of Americans have high blood pressure. Whether you're 20 or 80, it can alter the structure and function of your brain if you don't do something about it.
Welcome back to Age Wise, your weekly update on the science of aging and longevity, emphasizing physical health and mental wellness at every stage of life. Here’s what’s new and interesting:
Don’t Let Your Blood Boil
Even in your 20s and 30s, high blood pressure can set you up for altered structure and functionality of your brain by mid-life, new research suggests. The study is small and not yet peer-reviewed, and it doesn’t prove causality, but it mirrors similar recent research that strongly links high blood pressure, across age groups, to smaller brains and brains that appear older than those of people with normal blood pressure.
What you might not realize: Almost half of Americans have high blood pressure, defined now as anything above 130/80, and it’s a lot easier to prevent it from rising than to lower it once it crosses a critical threshold.
I wrote recently about how dangerous and deadly high blood pressure can be to the body and the brain, how to check your blood pressure, what you need to know about the numbers, and how to lower your numbers.
Why We Have Grandparents
There’s an interesting new idea floating around that aims to explain, from the perspective of evolution, why humans age so far beyond childbearing years, and why physical activity is so good for people as we age. It’s called the active grandparent hypothesis, and it goes like this:
Early days of our species, hunter-gatherers who lived past their childbearing years could pitch in and provide extra sustenance and succor to their grandchildren, helping those descendants survive … [so] … it was physical activity that helped hunter-gatherers survive long enough to become grandparents.
The hypothesis is explained by Harvard evolutionary biologist and paleoanthropologist Daniel E. Lieberman, PhD, and colleagues in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Whether it holds up or not, the fact remains that grandparents (just like all of us) can indeed benefit from exercise or any sort of informal physical fun (or work) that gets the heart and lungs going.
Related: I interviewed Lieberman last year about his book, Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding, resulting in this article, which explains why so many of us hate to exercise but why it matters so much: 7 Big Exercise Myths. Back in 2019, I interviewed the study’s co-author, Brigham and Women’s Hospital epidemiologist I-Min Lee, for a feature on the health benefits of walking, a topic that I covered again last month in Walk Faster, Live Longer.
Let’s Ditch the Anti-Aging Mindset
Maria Shriver and I probably don't have much in common, but we're aligned on this: She is ditching the term “anti-aging” to adopt a pro-aging mindset. Science shows that embracing aging is good for you, mentally and physically. Plus you can save a bunch of money:
An anti-aging mentality fuels billions of dollars in spending on mostly worthless anti-wrinkle creams, hair-loss remedies, and plastic surgeries, not to mention magical memory potions, all of which leave most folks another year older and deeper in fear of aging. Years are spent pasting veneers of youth on aging exteriors instead of doing things that actually help the mind and body stay youthful, like developing good eating habits, good sleep hygiene, staying physically active, and choosing these healthy lifestyles over medications as much as possible.
See what she said and what I say and what science says:
3 Seconds of Effort Can Build Muscle
As scientists keep ratcheting down the amount of time needed to improve #fitness, the effort required is approaching zero. Sort of. New research finds 3 seconds will do the trick, on one muscle anyway, if repeated often. The research involved bicep curls and isometrics, and after four weeks, five days per week, 3 seconds per day, university students saw a 10% strength gain in that muscle. Applied to other body parts, the idea could be useful for anyone, but especially as we start to lose muscle at around age 30.
Such brief but intense workouts could be particularly beneficial in preventing sarcopenia, the decrease in muscle mass and strength that comes with aging, says study leader Ken Nosaka, PhD, director of exercise and sports science at Australia’s Edith Cowen University.
The upshot: “Short, good quality exercise can still be good for your body and every muscle contraction counts,” Nosaks says.
Pandemic Reduces Mobility Even in People Who Haven’t Been Sick
Covid-19 can leave physical and mental scars—long-Covid symptoms—that result in reduced mobility, which can become a serious, spiraling problem, as inactivity begets lethargy. Now, preliminary research and anecdotal evidence suggests lockdowns and other health restrictions have led to reduced mobility even among some seniors who haven’t had the disease.
Nearly half of those 65 and older who had contracted Covid reported less ability to engage in physical activity like walking and exercising than before the pandemic — but so did about one-quarter of those who did not become infected. Smaller proportions of those uninfected said their ability to move around the house, and to do housework like dishwashing and dusting, had also declined.
The effect is not just on seniors. Younger adults and children around the world were less active early in the pandemic, too, according to this study and this one.
“It’s a cascade of effects,” says Geoffrey Hoffman, a health-services researcher at the university’s School of Nursing and the lead author of the study, in a New York Times article. “You start with changes in activity levels. That results in worsened function. That in turn is associated with both falls and fear of falling.”
If you’re less active these days—and no matter how old you are—it’s vital that you make moving a top priority. Reduced physical activity is bad for both physician and mental health, much research shows. Any movement—including walking or doing chores around the house—is linked to better health and longevity.
Some Cancer Rates Are Rising, But Overall Mortality is Decreasing
Rates for some cancers are increasing but overall mortality rate from cancer is decreasing, Medical News Today reports. Readers must be careful to note changes in rates, not change in total numbers (given population increases and longer life expectancies). Bottom line: If you’re at risk for any cancers (or heart disease), don’t let the pandemic stop you from scheduling your checkups, like many people have. Early diagnosis is critical to surviving.
Bit of Wisdom
You might have heard that you don’t drink enough water, that you must pack a bottle with you at all times and sip throughout the day. Yeah, not so fast. Your body and brain are pretty good at letting you know when you need some, and the water in coffee, soup and other food all counts. If you work out a lot or spend time outside on a hot day, you’ll need more, of course, and don’t deny your body the water it urges you to drink—too little water can indeed be bad for you. But unless your urine is regularly dark (a sign of dehydration) don’t let the doom-and-gloom headlines stress you out. Here’s how much you water you actually need, and here’s a guide to fruits and veggies that contain a ton of water.
Feedback
Reader comments on my article Doctors Urge More ‘Lifestyle Medicine,’ Fewer Pharmaceutical:
“This could have been from the health class I had in high school in 1973. It's all true, but none of it is new. It's simply easier to take a pill than do any of these things, and the pills are available.”
— John McMahon
“Doctors prescribe drugs because it is extremely difficult to get people to change behavior, and they know it. But yes, sustained lifestyle modification is often superior, and would change healthcare economics, if only someone could figure out how to help people be more successful.”
— L. Drage
“As a nurse, this makes me really upset. Nurses are one of the only health care professionals (besides some allied health) that properly advocate and know the importance of health promotion. We take long drawn out classes in university to learn about how to promote health, prevent disease, and educate people on how to take care of their bodies. Yet, none of this expertise has ever been taken seriously by doctors, researchers, and policymakers. Our entire health care system is based on making money off pharmaceuticals and unless politicians and health CEO's decide to invest in the proper education and health promotion of its citizens, nothing is going to happen.”
— Gillian May
“Amen. And the kicker? It actually works! Thanks for the great article.”
— L.G. O'Connor