For more than a decade, Paddy Jones has been wowing audiences with her salsa dancing. She became famous in Spain through the talent show T S Quer Vales (You're Worth It) and went on to win the show in the UK.
According to Guinness World Records, Jones is the world's oldest acrobatic salsa dancer. Before she married her husband, David, at 22, Jones was a professional dancer and had performed for clients such as the US Navy. She began dancing again after retirement. Jones told an interviewer that he didn't plead his age because he didn't feel like it.
According to a wealth of research that spans five decades, we would all do well to embrace the same attitude, since it can act as a potent elixir of life. People who see the aging process as a potential for personal growth tend to enjoy better health into their 70s, 80s and 90s than people who associate aging with decline and lack of motivation.
Paddy Jones is a salsa dancer. The picture is from theIPA/Shutterstock.
The idea that our thoughts could affect our lifespan was the most surprising claim I have investigated for my new book. The science is robust. Prof Brothers says there is a solid base of literature now. There are different labs in different countries that use different methods and the same answer is always the same.
I could turn back time.
The first hint that our thoughts and expectations could speed up or slow down the aging process came from a remarkable experiment by the psychologist Ellen Langer at Harvard University.
In 1979 she asked a group of 70 and 80 year olds to take a week-long retreat at a monastery that had been redecorated in the style of the late 1950s. Everything at the location, from the magazines in the living room to the music playing on the radio and the films available to watch, was carefully chosen for historical accuracy.
Small difficulties will start to feel more threatening if you believe that you are frail and helpless.
The participants were asked to live in 1959. They had to write a biography of themselves in the present tense and act as if they were their own person. They were discouraged from asking for help to carry their belongings. The researchers had participants talk about the political and sporting events of 1959 as if they were currently in progress, without discussing them since that point. They wanted to evoke their younger selves through these associations.
The researchers ran a second retreat with a new group of people. While factors such as the decor, diet and social contact remained the same, participants were asked to reminisce about the past without acting like they were reliving that period.
Most of the participants showed some improvements from the baseline tests to the after-retreat ones, but it was those who had fully immersed themselves in the world of 1959 who saw the greatest benefits. Sixty-three per cent made a significant gain on the cognitive tests, compared to just 44% in the control condition. As the inflammation from their arthritis subsided, their vision became sharper, their joints were more flexible and their hands were more dexterous.
Quick show.
Scientists have developed a number of measures to assess people's perception of aging. There are a few examples.
Do things get worse or stay the same as you get older?
What do you think about retirement and beyond: uninvolved or involved; unable or able; dependent or busy?
When does middle age end and old age begin?
You are more likely to experience better health as you age if you answered "better" or "the same" on (1) and "involved", "able", "independent", and "busy" on (2).
People who believe that old age starts at a later point, over 70 years, live longer than people who believe that old age starts at 60 or younger.
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The findings were based on a small sample size. The idea that our mindset could influence our physical aging is about as crazy as a scientific theory can get.
The Yale School of Public Health has been leading the way in providing that proof. She looked at data from the Ohio Longitudinal Study of Aging and Retirement that looked more than 1,000 people since 1975.
The average age of the participants was 63 years old at the start of the survey and they were asked to give their views on aging. They were asked to rate their agreement with the statement: "As you get older, you are less useful". Levy found that the average person with a more positive attitude lived on for 22.6 years after the study began, while the average person with poorer interpretations of aging lived for just 15 years. Levy had control for their actual health status at the start of the survey, as well as other known risk factors, which could influence longevity.
The implications of the finding are the same as they were when the study was first published. Levy and her colleagues wrote that if a previously unidentified virus was found to diminish life expectancy by over seven years, considerable effort would probably be devoted to identifying the cause and implementing a remedy. One of the likely causes is societally denigration of the aged.
The link between people's expectations and their physical aging has been reinforced by later studies. You might think that people's attitudes would reflect their decline rather than contribute to the decline. Many people will endorse certain ageist beliefs, such as the idea that old people are helpless, before they experience age related disability of their own. Levy has found that people who express those kinds of views in their 30s can predict their cardiovascular disease risk up to 38 years later.
The findings suggest that age beliefs may play a role in the development of Alzheimer's disease. Positive expectations of aging halved the risk of developing the disease compared to those who saw old age as an inevitable period of decline, according to a study. This was true of people who had a harmful variant of the APOE gene. The build-up of toxic plaques and neuronal loss can be prevented by the positive mindset.
How could this happen?
It's important that behavior is important. If you think of age as a weakness, you may be less likely to exercise as you get older, and that will increase your susceptibility to many illnesses, including heart disease and Alzheimer's.
The damaging age beliefs are reinforced by messages in our culture. Just think about greetings cards.
Our age beliefs can have a direct effect on our health. Elderly people who have been stereotyped as old tend to have higher blood pressure in response to challenges, while those who have been stereotyped as young tend to have a more subdued reaction. It makes sense that if you believe that you are frail and helpless, you will start to feel more threatening. The increased stress response could raise the risk of ill health by increasing levels of the hormones cortisol and bodily inflammation.
The consequences can be seen in the cells' nucleus, where our genetic blueprints are kept. Our genes are wrapped tightly in each cell's chromosomes, which have tiny protective caps, which keep the DNA stable and stop it from becoming damaged. As we age, tomeres tend to shorten and this can cause the cell to malfunction. People with negative age beliefs have their cells look older. The cells of those with positive attitudes look younger.
The link between age beliefs and long-term health and longevity is well-established for many scientists. Dr David Weiss, who studies the psychology of aging at Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany, says that it is well established. It has important implications for people of all generations.
Birthday cards sent to Captain Tom Moore for his 100th birthday had a less respectful tone. The picture was taken by Shaun Botterill.
The damaging age beliefs are reinforced by messages in our culture. Greetings cards are often used to depict confused and older people. The chief communications officer of the American Association of Retired Persons says that she couldn't find a joke card for her friend's 70th birthday.
She would like to see a greater awareness of age stereotypes in the same way that people now show greater sensitivity to sexism and racism. They need to step forward.
We can try to rethink our perception of aging. Studies show that our mindsets can change. By learning to reject fatalistic beliefs and appreciate some of the positive changes that come with age, we may avoid the stress responses that arise from exposure to negative stereotypes and we may be more motivated to exercise our bodies and minds.
We could learn to live like Paddy Jones.
Jones was careful to say that luck could be a factor in her good health. She agrees that many people have too pessimistic a view of their capabilities, and that encourages them to question their limits. She told me to try it if I feel like doing something. If you can't do it, look for something else to do.
Whatever our current age, that is a winning attitude that will set us up for greater health and happiness for decades to come.
The Expectation Effect: How your mindset can transform your life was published by Canongate on January 6th. Order your copy at guardianbookshop.com to support the Guardian and Observer. Delivery charges may apply.
