Category Archives: Human Longevity

London, Oct 8 (IANS) A Georgian woman who claimed to be 132-years-old - making her the world's oldest human being ever - has died, The Independent reported Monday.

Antisa Khvichava claimed to have been born July 8, 1880, and had a Soviet-era passport and documentation to that effect, but her age was contested and never officially proven.

She lived in Sachino village in northwest Georgia with her 42-year-old grandson and claimed to have retired from her job as a tea and corn picker in 1965, when she was 85.

Khvichava claimed to be just 10-years younger than Russia's first communist leader Vladimir Lenin and to have been born a year before the death of celebrated Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

She said she had 12 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren and reportedly attributed her longevity and good health to drinking a small amount of local brandy every day, according to the newspaper.

Her original birth certificate is said to have been lost during the years of revolutions and civil wars that ravaged Georgia following the fall of the USSR.

But local officials, friends, neighbours and descendants have all back up the claim she was 132 when she died, the daily said.

The oldest living person at the moment is 116-year-old Besse Cooper from the state of Georgia in the US. Her birth can be officially proven to have been in August 1896.

The oldest ever verified person was French woman Jeanne Calment, born in February 1875, who lived to 122 years and 164 days before dying in August 1997.

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World's 'oldest person' dies at 132

Possibly the last person on the planet who knew the taste of the air in 1880 has died.

Antisa Khvichava, who claimed to be 132 years old, was enjoying her 47th year of retirement in Sachino, a remote village in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, when she passed away, according to a British newspaper, the Independent. If she was as old as she said, Khvichava would've been the oldest person to ever live.

Though a birth certificate and passport indicate Khvichava was born July 8, 1880, they are replacements of documents she had lost over the years, raising skepticism over her claim.

But science can't rule out her feat absolutely. If there's a maximum possible human age, it hasn't been found yet.

In 1798, the then-oldest verified person died at 103, according to the Gerontology Research Group. In 1997, France's Jeanne Calment, the current verified oldest, died at 122. [Infographic: Global Life Expectancy]

If Kvichava did, indeed, walk the Earth for well over a century, what did she do right?

Based on current science, the answer might be that, other than avoiding obvious physical threats, she didn't do much to earn her longevity.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University showed last year that, among a studied population of people older than 95, bad health habits such as smoking, drinking, poor diet and lack of exercise were about as common as in the general population, meaning their longevity seemed to be largely based on genes.

But this does not mean the general population should abandon healthy living and adopt a doctrine of genetic fatalism. Rather, that study and others suggest longevity outliers like Kvichava, a reported daily brandy drinker, have rare genetic protections that transcend unhealthy habits, propelling them into very old age in spite of lifestyle.

For people who aren't prepared to take a gamble that they're genetically predisposed to break 100 (the 2010 Census counted 53,364 centenarians in the United States), the famously abstemious and healthy-living Seventh-Day Adventists seem to hint at a practical regimen for increasing lifespan.

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How Did Woman Live to 132?

Jeanne Calment is the French woman who lived the longest authenticated human life 122 years and 164 days.

While it seems that so much of longevity is tied to the genetic hand we are dealt at birth, we certainly can adopt and pursue lifestyles that improve our chances for living longer, or, for that matter, not spending as much time on earth as we could have had we taken a healthier route.

Much is made of Ms. Calments lifestyle and diet. Incredibly, she smoked until she was about 110 (science suggests Ms. Calment had a rare innate biological protection from the deleterious effects of the bad habit). Yet, she was also riding a bike until she was a 100 and she continued to walk until a few months short of her 115th birthday, when she broke her femur.

Ms. Calment, who died in 1997, said she did not get stressed about too much. Her regular diet included olive oil, port wine and get ready up to two pounds of chocolate a week, only giving up the sweet when she had reached the age of 119.

Could chocolate have had something to do with that amazing life span?

Perhaps, yes, maybe a little bit. And chocolate is a sweeter excuse the pun alternative to other life extending therapies.

We are finding out more almost every day about the health benefits of chocolate and of cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate.

What is it in chocolate that is good for us?

Chocolate especially dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants called flavonoids. Clinical research has shown that flavonoids can reduce and prevent cardiovascular damage and lower blood pressure.

Science also supports that dark chocolate flavonoids have a positive effect on blood cholesterol pushing the bad form down, and raising the good form.

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Over The Counter: Chocolate and caffeine - good news on the healthfront

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We have long known that friends and family play an important role in our daily lives and social support system, but there is a definite connection between people as the foundation of positive mental health and increased longevity. Consider everything you do for one another, from sharing meals to weekend adventures to emotional support. Sure, there can be a lot of work involved, but these loving relationships not only help us thrive, they actually add years to our lives especially as we move past middle age. It is no wonder centenarians are beloved by their family members and friends!

Connect Powerfully With Others

Here are some simple tips to help you or your loved ones cope with loneliness, and transform isolation into a positive and emotionally bountiful situation!

1. Give a hug

If you feel emotionally isolated, or just want to go the extra mile in your connections, then try giving out more hugs to your friends and family. Human touch, what I like to call real hands on healing, has been recognized as a powerful technique for centuries. Touch has been proven to elicit elevated production of endorphins, growth hormones, and DHEAall of which lengthen your life span. Need another reason? Touch also lowers the levels of stress hormones that can shorten life and attack our immune system.

2. Cultivate Tolerance: Forgive and forget

Oftentimes, we forego making deep connections with people throughout the day because of shyness, presumption, or intolerance. A great tool to both expand your emotional flexibility and support your longevity is to cultivate tolerance. Tolerance increases our abilities to flow with the ups and downs of life. This way we are less affected by disappointments and traumas, and less likely to become upset with other people. Being able to transform stressful or negative situations between yourself and others into positive situations with a beneficial outcome will help you roll with the punches in life and make you valuable company for the entire journey! A simple way to remember not to hold onto stress is to repeat the adage forgive and forget, thus moving on emotionally and developing strength of character.

3. Discover your passions

A negative and depressing social environment can sap the pleasures from life and create a lonely way of being. If you find yourself in a positive and nurturing situation, do everything you can to sustain it. But, if youre in negative surroundings, take whatever steps are necessary only you can identify them in your particular case to develop a more life-affirming situation. An easy way to start creating a more loving and connected lifestyle is by taking some time for yourself and really getting to know what your passions are. Consider places you want to visit, your dream job or project, or what would make an ideal day for you. Make a list of these and other important projects or interests that you would like to explore more fully. Assign each item a number based on its importance to you, from one to five (or however many items you list). Now think seriously about how to achieve the most important ones, and work your way down. Once you begin to support yourself and your goals, youll begin to feel confident, fulfilled, and ready to connect with the people that your new energy will undoubtedly bring you into contact with!

Link:
Dr. Mao's Wellness Living: Coping With Loneliness To Increase Longevity

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --IC Places, Inc. (ICPA) At Punch TV, a network recently acquired by IC Places, the senior executives and staff are busily launching the Fall Season. For example, a Punch TV original mini-series: EROS: EMMANUEL AND ME that will air from October 22 October 28, 2012. EROS: EMMANUEL AND MEis a true love story of a man 30 years of age who falls in love with Armentha "Mike" Cruise, a woman 35 years his senior. But separately from the mini-series, Armentha "Mike" Cruise is not an unknown entity.

In April 1988, she founded Aspen Personnel Services, a human resources management and staffing company that was located in Takoma Park, Maryland. Within years of its birth, Aspen was being lauded for the rapidity of its growth and the quality of its services. Indeed, Armentha Cruise, or "Mike" as she is known to her friends, family and business colleagues, had accumulated awards such as: the 1995 BEST in Washington DC Tours presented to Aspen and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing from the Guild of Professional Tour Guides; the 1997 National Supplier of the Year Award from the National Council of Corporations; and the 1996 and 1997 INC. Magazine Award as one of the 500 fastest growing private companies in the country. Ms. Cruise was also chronicled in "Women of Achievement in Maryland's History" a statewide school textbook featuring prominent women, and in 2001 was awarded the "Customer Service Award" by Working Woman Magazine. Aspen also garnered the 2002 Business of the Year Award from the Washington DC Chamber of Commerce. More recent awards include the 2006 and 2007 Lockheed Martin STAR Award and Preferred Supplier two years consecutively; the 2009 Media Recognition and Publication (MBE Magazine June 2009 issue); the 2011 DC Chamber Champion of Women in Business Award; the Vanguard Award for Business Success and Longevity presented by the Maryland DC Minority Supplier Development Council and the 2012 Washington Business Journal "Business Leader Award". Aspen experienced a growth rate in revenues from $39,000 in 1988, to $11 million in 2000 to close to $50 million today. Today, despite experiencing a number of challenges from 2008-2011, Aspen Personnel, now known as the Aspen Group, Inc., has sustained sales of more than $45 million and delivers human resources management and staffing services at sites throughout the United States as well as abroad. With a Bachelor's from Morgan State University, a Master's from American University, and a brilliant mind that developed its business savvy when she began collecting rents for her entrepreneurial mother at the age of nine, Mike Cruise has indeed, established a place for herself in the world of business. But, today, Armentha "Mike" Cruise is in the world of news for a reason outside of her business acumen. Mike, a petite, beautiful woman whose presence can be felt the moment she enters a room, has allowed her love life to become the foci of the Punch TV original mini-series, EROS: EMMANUEL AND ME.

According to Joseph E. Collins, President of IC Places and Founder of Punch TV, and Steve Samblis, CEO and Chairman of the Board of IC Places, a company that acquired Punch TV in July of this year, Mike's (the businesswoman's) story is a perfect one for the EROS series. "There's a cynicism that has developed about love and relationships these days," says Joseph Collins. "With EROS, we wanted to bring viewers hope by offering true stories of true love," says Steve Samblis.

"When Ms. Cruise's story came to our attention, the story of her marriage at the age of 60+ to a young businessman of 30 years of age, we knew that we wanted to do it as a Punch TV original," Joseph Collins continues, "But, for me, the real clincher was the fact that Mike is such an excellent businesswoman. As a result, by allowing Punch TV to probe into this very sensitive area of her life her marriage to Emmanuel - we were also able to integrate some important other economic messages to the public, such as the importance of quantitative skills to what happens during an economic downturn."

When queried regarding "why" she allowed her story to be told. Armentha "Mike" Cruise, President and CEO of the Aspen Group for the last 24 years, offers a simple answer, "Perhaps my story will inspire hope by letting others know that we are never too old to experience true love and that magic really does exist. We must not be afraid to take risks; living in fear especially when we receive a gift. Seize it and simply get rid of the fences that prevent love from entering and living an enchanted life that we sometimes think is impossible to have."

EROS: EMMANUEL AND ME is scheduled to air on Punch Television Network from October 22, 2012 to October 28, 2012 at 8:30 pm PST. Please contact your local carriers for exact dates and times.

IC Places Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are based on the current plans and expectations of management and are subject to a number of uncertainties and risks that could significantly affect the company's current plans and expectations, as well as future results of operations and financial condition. A more extensive listing of risks and factors that may affect the company's business prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements can be found in the reports and other documents filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information, contact:

Rachel Ramos, Vice President, Marketing

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The Other Side of a Businesswoman

Imagine seeing life through one eyeball but then being given the ability to view the world through two or even three eyeballs at once. You would be greeted with not just more data about your surroundings but a better perspective of how all of that data fit together.

This is the explanation that photographer Rick Smolan gave to his 10-year-old son when asked the meaning of "big data," according to a story he recounted Tuesday at an event he organized in New York City to announce his latest social experiment: The Human Face of Big Data.

For years researchers and technology companies have talked up the notion that extracting meaning from massive amounts of sensor dataproduced everywhere from the oceans' depths to city streets to satellites circling the planetwill have a profound impact on the quality of our lives. Smolan's projectlaunched through his production company Against All Odds and sponsored primarily by EMC Corp.seeks to highlight big data's potential by culling information directly from mobile gadget users worldwide.

For the next two months The Human Face of Big Data is inviting Google Android and Apple iOS mobile device users to answer 60 questions made available in eight languages. The queries touch on a wide variety of users' beliefs, rituals and hopes. One question, for example, hypothetically asks, "If you could enhance your unborn child's DNA in only one way, would you choose: Immunity, Life Span/Longevity, Intelligence, Appearance or Nothing?" Based on the more than 1.5 million answers received through Tuesday morning, it's already clear that respondents who believe in a supreme being are less likely than other participants to want to alter an unborn child's DNA in any way.

Other questions ask respondents where they feel safest in the world, how they cope with stress, what rituals they perform for good luck and one thing they hope to accomplish before they die.

Data collected thus far has come from Android users. Whereas that mobile app launched on September 26, the iOS version currently is languishing in Apple's app vetting process. Project organizers hope to release it soon.

The free mobile apps also automatically gather usage and location data from participants' mobile devices throughout the survey period, which ends November 20. When enough data is collected, participants will be able to access anonymous information about their "data doppelganger"the age, location, gender, percentage of questions answered and other stats of another participant whose profile most closely matches their own.

Smolan and his team plan to make all project data public, but identifying data will not even be collected. The Human Face of Big Data Web site states that the information gathered through the mobile apps will be used for "noncommercial, educational purposes and is intended to provide a fun look at how each user's answers compare with those of other users around the world." The apps do not solicit users' names, e-mail addresses or other contact information, and users need not create a username or password to participate. "Big data is not Big Brother," Smolan said.

The project launch event in Manhattansimilar events were hosted in London and Singaporefeatured a number of speakers elucidating the potential impact of big data. Juan Enriquez, managing director of Excel Venture Management, posited that a person's presence online via blogs, social networks and photos can be thought of as digital tattoos, and that the availability of this information via search engines grants people a kind of immortality. Aside from any permanence that can be achieved, Esther Dyson, a venture capitalist and former journalist, pointed out that improvements in the collection and analysis of diet, exercise and sleep data can also help people on a more prosaic level by enabling healthier lifestyles.

A key component of big data is its dissemination, something that charity: water, a nonprofit organization, is leveraging in its effort to make clean drinking water available in developing nations. Founder and CEO Scott Harrison pointed out at Tuesday's event that people are more willing to donate to a cause when they think their money will be used to solve a problem, rather than to pay for administrative costs and employee salaries.

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Information Nation: Digital Social Experiment to Put a Human Face on Big Data

Oct. 4, 2012, 3 a.m.

Baboons, like people, really do get by with a little help from their friends. Humans with strong social ties live longer, healthier lives, whereas hostility and ''loner'' tendencies can set the stage for disease and early death.

In animals, too, strong social networks contribute to longer lives and healthier offspring - and now it seems that personality may be just as big a factor in other primates' longevity status. A study has found that female baboons that had the most stable relationships with other females weren't always the highest up in the hierarchy or those with close family around - but they were the nicest.

Scientists are increasingly seeing personality as a key factor in an animal's ability to survive, adapt and thrive in its environment. But this topic isn't an easy one to study scientifically, says primatologist Dorothy Cheney, of the University of Pennsylvania.

''Research in mammals, birds, fish and insects shows individual patterns of behaviour that can't be easily explained. But the many studies of personality are based on human traits like conscientiousness, agreeableness, or neuroticism. It isn't clear how to apply those traits to animals,'' she says.

Along with a group of scientists, including co-authors Robert Seyfarth, also at the University of Pennsylvania, and primatologist Joan Silk of Arizona State University, Professor Cheney has studied wild baboons at the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana for almost 20 years.

Besides providing detailed observations of behaviour in several generations of baboons, the research has yielded a wealth of biological and genetic data.

In previously published research, Professor Cheney and co-workers showed that females lived longer, had lower stress hormone levels and had more surviving offspring when they had close, long-lasting relationships with other females (characterised chiefly by spending time together and grooming).

Although dominance rank was significant for male baboons - alpha male baboons may live longer than lower-ranking males - this wasn't true for the females. Nor was an abundance of family the key to longevity. Not all of the longer-lived, less-stressed females had large families.

To find out more about how female baboons forge bonds, Professor Cheney and co-authors focused on detailed records of observations of 45 female baboons from 2001 to 2007. As a personality gauge, the researchers used specific behaviours, including how often the females were alone, how often they touched other females, how often they behaved aggressively, how often they were approached by others and how often they grunted when approaching other females of various ranks. Among female baboons, grunting is a sign of good will, Professor Cheney says. Using these criteria, the researchers characterised the baboons as ''nice'', ''aloof'' or ''loner''. The team also tested the baboons for levels of stress hormones known as glucocorticoids.

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For longevity, it's the survival of the nicest Save

Scientists have been hard pressed to explain why menopause happens so early in humans there's no obvious evolutionary advantage to having your reproductive system shut down decades before the rest of your body.

Most other long-lived animals keep reproducing until the end. Female turtles can lay fertile eggs at 100. Our primate relatives, too, keep pumping out young until they are near death.

Now, scientists are finding clues to our unusual life pattern in killer whales - one of the few other species in which females get decades of so-called post-reproductive life. What they found was a surprising connection between longevity of mothers and their sons.

Biologist Emma Foster of Exeter University in England said that females become fertile around 12, have a calf every 3 to 5 years, and then stop reproducing in their late 30s and early 40s. After that they can live many years, sometimes to 90 and beyond. "No other animals have such long post-reproductive lives," she said, except for pilot whales and humans.

And while there's a small difference between the sexes in human longevity, it's extreme for whales, with females living to 90 and males rarely getting past 40. Scientists have little understanding of why this would be.

In puzzling over this anthropologists have proposed what they call the grandmother hypothesis - the possibility that post-menopausal women gain an evolutionary edge by helping their existing children and grandchildren.

In Darwinian terms, after all, no matter how many offspring you have, you'll still be a dead end unless your offspring have surviving offspring.

Ultimately, according to the hypothesis, grandmotherly support could allow women to pass on more copies of their genes than by investing the same energy in continuing to have their own babies.

The other possibility is that menopause is some sort of evolutionary byproduct that can occur in long-lived animals.

Scientists have tried to test the grandmother hypothesis by studying hunter-gatherer populations - people representing the way humans lived through most of our evolutionary past. Results over the years have been mixed, but work in the last decade has supported the idea, said Foster.

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What whales tell us about the evolution of menopause

New York,1October2012 - Secretary-General's message on International Day of Older Persons

Rapid population ageing and a steady increase in human longevity worldwide represent one of the greatest social, economic and political transformations of our time. These demographic changes will affect every community, family and person. They demand that we rethink how individuals live, work, plan and learn throughout their lifetimes, and that we re-invent how societies manage themselves.

As we embark on shaping the post-2015 United Nations development agenda, we must envision a new paradigm that aligns demographic ageing with economic and social growth and protects the human rights of older persons. We are all -- individually and collectively -- responsible for the inclusion of older persons in society, whether through developing accessible transportation and communities, ensuring the availability of age-appropriate health care and social services, or providing an adequate social protection floor.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing. As the proportion of older persons in society grows, the bold vision it put forward -- of building a society for all ages is more relevant than ever.

Longevity is a public health achievement, not a social or economic liability. On this International Day of Older Persons, let us pledge to ensure the well-being of older persons and to enlist their meaningful participation in society so we can all benefit from their knowledge and ability.

Statements on 1October2012

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Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

Want to live to 100? A new study suggests that, for men, your testicles might be holding you back.

Korean eunuchs men who had their testicles removed outlived their contemporaries by as many as 14 to 19 years, suggesting that male sex hormones somehow act to shorten the male human lifespan, according to a new historical study of records spanning from the 14th century through the early 19th century.

The finding, reported Monday in the journal Current Biology, argues for something called the "disposable soma theory. The idea is that since animals have limited access to energy, there is a natural trade-off between reproduction and the maintenance of the body's cells.

But evidence for the theory has been limited, and some strong counter-evidence exists: Numerous studies in mammals have shown that restricting caloric intake can lengthen the lifespan of some animals though sometimes such animals become infertile, a fact that may favor the disposable soma hypothesis.

If the theory were true, South Korean researchers figured that it could be seen in humans by looking at the production and circulation of male sex hormones. That makes eunuchs a nice group to study, since the testicles are responsible for much of that work.

The study authors used an historical document from the early 19th century called the Yang-Se-Gye-Bo, which is a genealogy of eunuchs who worked in the palace and served the nations royalty. The researchers were able to identify 81 eunuchs in the document for whom they could identify birth and death dates. Then they cross-referenced the information with other historical Korean documents, including the Annals of the Chosun Dynasty, to ensure the data were accurate.

They found that the eunuchs lived to be around 70 years old on average, while non-eunuchs who lived alongside them with similar social and economic status lived to be between 50 and 55 years old a difference that was striking and unlikely to be due to chance.

The researchers use the finding to explain another common observation: The fact that women generally live longer than men, which they say may be because women lack the same quantities of hormones like testosterone.

While it is possible that working in the royal palace contributed to the eunuchs longevity, the researchers did their best to control for this by comparing them to men in the royal family, who, according to the Annals of the Chosun Dynasty, rarely made it to 50 years of age.

The small group of eunuchs studied included three centenarians well above the statistical averages seen today across the developed world. Japan has only one centenarian for every 3,500 people; the U.S. has one in 4,000, according to the study.

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Men without testicles might live longer, study suggests