100-plus: Centenarians reveal their healthy-aging secrets

Welcome to 20-Minute Health Talk. I'm your host, Rob Hoell. Today you'll hear from a very special group of people, centenarians.

All over 100 years old they recently shared their New Year's resolutions for 2024 in a tv commercial for Northwell health. Inspired by their hopes and goals, we wanted to learn a little bit more about them and their secrets to living a long life. Also with us to provide some perspective and guidance on healthy aging is Dr Maria Carney.

She is the chief of geriatric and palliative medicine at Northwell Health, and she's a former Nassau county health commissioner. Dr Carney, welcome to the show. First things first.

Happy new year. Happy new year. Thanks for having me.

We're so excited to kick off this episode by listening to this commercial, which aired around New Year's called resolutions. but before we do that, Dr Carney, what's your New Year's resolution? That's a good question.

And did you break it already? No, I am doing dry. Good.

and I'm happy that that's been so far successful. And my new year's resolution is just trying to stay a little bit more active, more walking and exercise. so, so far, so good.

Awesome. Excellent. well, let's take a listen to this commercial that aired on what's.

My new year's resolution, now that I. Think about it, is that I should. Smile more, have done skydiving.

I want to see more of the world. To make a difference To sleep a little later. I want to dance the electric slide.

I want to get a new bachelor pad. I want to keep winning at poker Northwell. Raise health.

That's great. It's so amazing. And you look at these people, and if you saw them out, if you met them in a restaurant or something else, you would never think that they're 100 or over 100.

They're over 100 years old. No. And we tend to categorize older adults as different.

Right. But what these individuals, did you see a little bit of yourselves in them? right.

And you can say, wow, that's me. I'm thinking about my resolutions not dissimilar to how they're thinking about their resolution. So that could be me.

so I think that's another key here. Well, you know, what's interesting, I think, too, is, like, obviously, they just took the parts for the commercial because they need to fit it all into a 30 second spot But there was a lot more to the footage, and so they gave some really great insights. do you want to hear a little bit more of some of what they had to say?

I'd love to. Okay, let's kick it off with Lenora. Today, she is 102 years old, and she says that her longevity has to do a lot with her diet.

People ask me, what do I attribute my longevity to in the first place? I say, I owe it all to God. God's been good to me.

And I say olive oil, because I eat a mediterranean diet. And I have always eaten a mediterranean diet, being from italian background. And I have some neighbors that don't ever eat a vegetable.

Green vegetable. I eat my green vegetables, and I eat raw vegetables and salads. Lenora talks about the mediterranean diet.

I hear that all the time. The mediterranean diet, is that something that's going to help you live longer? Yes.

Studies have shown that antioxidants from blueberries and other fresh fruits help longevity. the olive oil helps with cardiovascular systems. And really, it's based on olive oil, fresh fruits and vegetables fish lean meat, chicken.

So, yes, her background supports it, the literature supports it, and there's truth to this. That's awesome. She also mentions, which I think is fascinating.

She mentions her faith. Yes. that, too, has been a key to longevity for many reasons, not only a belief system, but I think it helps with understanding when you.

It creates a support system of people, of network, and also helps you deal with events or traumas that you go through to give you peace and coping skills. So I think having spirituality faith community that you believe in and can go to helps one as we live longer, because the longer we live, the more likely we're going to face some trauma, and we have to learn how to cope with it. And I think that it sounds like that is how it's helped her.

That's awesome. So let's switch gears and talk about stress. One of our centenarians had a very interesting take on stress.

This is Angelina, who is 103. And let's see what she had to say. When people ask you, how do you stay so young: No sex.

Because you know it's true. If you don't have a husband, you don't have kids. So that'll get the stress.

And the stress is the biggest killer. So that's the answer. No sex.

No sex. So there you have it. There you go.

I don't know if we could say. That's doctor's orders, but what's your take? Well I think stress can wear on individuals, and you can reverse it.

You can say that you can have a spouse, you can have intimacy, you can have friendships, you can have relationships. Those will help you in life and support you. But if you have negative relationships that can definitely cause stress and hurt you over time.

So I'm going to spin it that way. How about that? All right.

Works for me. All right. Angelina also talked about exercise, perhaps a safer bet when it comes to living longer.

another one of those stars of this commercial is Isadora. Isador also stressed the importance of staying active in life. Let's listen to this 102 year old that people call Izzy.

I do my walking every day because walking helps you a lot. I used to walk 6 miles a day. I did a lot of walking all the time.

Izzy has an amazing story. He was born in romania, 1922. He and his family made it to america, and he went on to work on cars and raise a family.

What role does exercise play in longevity? Exercise activity, not being sedentary, plays an enormous role. It can decrease mortality twofold.

It is an important factor for cardiovascular health, brain health, bone health, and preventing injuries and falls. I have patients that whether they play golf or do housework or are just active, and that helps their mind, heart, and musculoskeletal system. It is the number one issue that, as Americans, we struggle with.

We are sedentary people. IPads, screens, tv are what we have to fight against and stay active with, whether it be walking, whether it's staying active in your own home, your social networks. And Northwell does that with our, every spring, our walk challenges.

We need more of that in society. Walking clubs, walking challenges, not running marathons, necessarily, because that's intimidating, but just staying active and 6 miles a day, that's amazing. All right, so, diet, exercise, and stress are all things that a doctor or doctor's plurals can help us manage, along with other health conditions.

And keeping regular doctors appointments is key at all ages. But I imagine it gets even more critical as we get older. this is Margaret, who was born in 1922.

She is 101 years young, and she had this to say about it. And very grateful, very grateful that my health needs are met with a home health doctor who visits me monthly. And that is a godsend, because my vision and hearing aren't that great, and that keeps me going.

I don't have to worry about getting transportation to my regular physician every month. Yeah. wonderful.

I think the delivery of health care where individuals live is the future of medicine, we have to rely at a certain point on help from others when we get to a certain ability age. And that is an issue for having a caregiver. And caregivers are often working.

70% of caregivers also have jobs, so they have to take time off and so forth. So if we can send teams to where a person lives and check on their health, that will save caregiver time. It will save the health system by involving or being on top of health problems before they become more serious.

So having a primary care doctor, having a geriatrician, this woman has a geriatrician because I'm familiar with her and she has a care brought to her is so unique and it should be reserved for individuals who have trouble getting out and about. In these interviews, a lot of people talk about his purpose. You hear about a spouse dying soon after they lose a wife or husband after retirement.

Let's listen to this clip from Margaret who talks about purpose. that keeps her going strong. I still work.

of course, it's not a pay job, it's volunteer but it serves a very needed purpose at the independent living residence where I live. And that fills my life because it's giving me something that I can find pleasure in doing that I know is of value to others. And it just makes me feel pretty good that I'm still chugging along.

Great. I think that's just great. That's great.

A little humility. Just chugging along. Right.

I think purpose is important for everybody at any stage of life. Finding your purpose, finding your impact helps you get out of bed in the morning and that's a great example. Yeah.

another topic that came up a few times during these interviews is family. we're going to hear from Ben. He's 102 years young and he had just to say about how his family keeps him going.

To be in a situation I'm in and to have reasonably still have my health. But the main thing is I still have as I say, a quality of life because I have my grandchildren. My married son lives near me, nearby.

So we get together quite a bit. That's nice. I love the word.

I'm sorry. No. How important is family support?

I think support is very important. And what you call your family has to be broad. Not everybody may have a son nearby, but they have what they consider family.

So I think that support is very important and we can be creative or nontraditional about what family is I take care of some nuns that live in convents across the region, and there's a lot to learn from their community that has become their family over time. So, yes, family and what you call family is extremely important. I also love what he said about his quality of life, because we sometimes talk about longevity, but in the literature, we're now starting to talk about health span versus lifespan.

And it's not necessarily how long you live, but what's your quality of life in that time? We all have. and he speaks to that.

He's realizing his quality of life is quite good, and he can only say that we can't. So I think that's an important aspect we need to think about when we think about ourselves as physicians, clinicians, who we care for, what's important to people, what's their quality of life, and how do we align it? Yeah, it's awesome.

You know, what's fascinating about Benny, too, is that he wants to start a podcast. So hopefully maybe we could be on his podcast one day. He's going to call his podcast the way it.

Oh, that's great. That's great. I would love to be on a show.

Put me on the list. All right, great. Another big part of his life and it's.

Our next topic is pets. so Benny says pets play an important role in his life. So let's listen to that.

Oh, I'm a cat person. I have all my life, we've had cats in my house. Presently I have four and about five or six strays that I feed each day on my porch.

They're wonderful companions. Maybe it had something to do with my life extraction, who knows? Because they say animals are very beneficial for people's well being.

I have heard that and we've seen it. and the literature has supported that. Pets, companionship even plants, to a certain extent, it's something you're caring for as well as you get feedback from somehow helps you.

so I've seen that we do have to be careful that pets don't contribute to falls. Right. Okay.

So that would be my only caveat to be careful. So don't get to make sure that the animal. Right.

It's not maybe too rambunctious. Yes. Okay, awesome.

But yes, in terms of companionship, pets can be very supportive and give warmth. Yeah. And they always love you.

They never argue with you, they never got mad at you. They're always there for you. Right.

Awesome. let's talk about sleep. It's another topic that a lot of our friends here have mentioned.

And I want to ask you, Dr Carney, what role it might play in healthy aging. But first, let's hear from Priscilla, who hit 100 years old in 2023. My secret is exercise a lot.

I used to exercise a lot. I do the push up, aerobic about an hour each day, but I haven't been doing it recently. Also eating healthy, plenty of sleep, and my thing be a good listener, listen to what people have to say instead of just ignoring them.

If you want to help someone, you got to be a good listener in order to have compassion for people. Great. A few points there that were wonderful.

sleep. So, sleep is an important factor, and the science, we're learning more about it and how it's important to rejuvenating our cells, our brains, and our heart. being attuned to your sleep hygiene, your sleep patterns, is important.

Phones, screens have come into our bedrooms and affected our sleep patterns. As we age, our sleep physiology also changes, so it can worry people. We may not be getting as long as sleep or as deep asleep as we grow older.

so there may be opportunities to take short naps but there's a need to rest. and we have to be careful that we don't change our days and nights. If we sleep during the day, take a nap, that may decrease our sleep at night.

So it's something we have to be attuned to. We have to watch, but we have to rejuvenate our bodies. And so it's important and be cautious that sleep aids.

Sleep medications are not always the simple answer, really. Look at your sleep hygiene and work on that first. When you talk about sleep hygiene, what do you mean?

I mean, what is your going to bed pattern? What time are you going to bed? are you looking at your phone?

Are you reading? Is there noise? Are there distractions?

Do you have a tv in your room? Are you going through a routine that promotes sleep? is there noise around that going to interrupt your sleep?

Are you watching the news before you go to bed that it's going to get you worried and trying to understand what is helping or hurting your sleep? Are you drinking alcohol that can affect your sleep? What medicines are you on that can affect your sleep?

so those are all the sleep hygiene kind of aspects. And there's a lot out there that you can read about having good sleep hygiene. Noise reduction, screen reduction.

your getting to bed pattern. and trying to keep your sleep at night as much as possible. Okay, great.

Awesome. Well, we're almost out of time here on 20 minutes health talk. Let's close it out with Benny, who talks about genetics and how that's played a role in his longevity.

I have had a 100 year old grandfather, 100 year old aunt, several aunts, you know, have an older brother passed away at 97. I have a younger brother still living who's going to be 96. No, he's going to be 97 also.

So it's in the genes to a great extent. Not wrong, but also your genes, your genetic, your family history also promotes a social behavior. How many smoked, how many did risky behaviors.

so there's a component there. It's not all genetic. We also know with modern day healthcare, who's at risk for diseases, how to screen for diseases, mammograms, colon cancers.

There's genetic testing we can do for all of many cancers brain diseases. So if you are with a thorough primary care doctor, you can go through the screenings early on to promote longevity and healthy living. It's awesome.

Well, Dr Carney, thank you so much for joining us here on 20-Minute Health Talk. This is actually your third time on the program, and it's always been fascinating discussion but this may have been the most fun topic we got to talk about. This is great.

Thanks. I really enjoyed it, and it's wonderful to be here. Thank you.

Awesome. Thank you so much. And thank you so much for tuning in.

I'm Rob Hoell. Have a great day, and stay safe. Northwell.

Raise health.