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Famous comedian George Burns was once quoted as sa Famous comedian George Burns was once quoted as saying, “If you live to be one hundred, you’ve got it made. Very few people die past that age”. By 2050, it is estimated that there will be more than one million centenarians living in the u.S.1 For most people, planning for retirement or their later years is focused mostly on finances and how they will spend their time. However, ensuring they spend those years in good health is something that many overlook. The times are certainly changing, with medical advances and technological breakthroughs, planning for retirement and living longer needs to be more holistic.
In 1970, average life expectancy at birth in the United States was 71 years. In 2014, it is 79 years; and by 2050, the U.S. Census Bureau projects that average life expectancy will be 84 years.2 Today, according to the National Institute on Aging, there are over 40 million people in the United States aged 65 or older, accounting for about 13 percent of the total population. In 1900, there were just 3.1 million older Americans, or about 4.1% of the population.3 The vast majority of baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—are on a quest to improve their odds of living longer than previous generations. They not only want to live longer, they want to live healthily, happily and more financially secure than ever before. Although there is no magic potion to ensure a long and healthy life, there are some notable accounts of individuals, families, and even whole communities that have defied the aging odds.
The holy grail of longevity In one such amazing story, Stamatis Moraitis, a Greek veteran of World War II, narrates how he was diagnosed with lung cancer in the 1960s
while living in the United States.4 He decided to forgo chemotherapy, and instead returned to his birthplace, Ikaria, the island where “people forget to die”. Moraitis abandoned his western diet and lifestyle and embraced the traditional island culture. His American doctors had told Moraitis he had only nine months to live, yet after moving to Ikaria he was still living— cancer free—45 years after his original diagnosis. According to the story, he never had chemotherapy, took drugs or sought therapy of any sort. All he did was move home to Ikaria and embrace the local lifestyle. He claimed he even outlived his U.S. physicians who, decades earlier, had predicted his imminent death as the only plausible outcome of his devastating diagnosis. Moraitis is not alone when it comes to longevity on the island of Ikaria. In fact, University of Athens researchers have concluded that people on Ikaria are reaching the age of 90 at two-and-a-half times the rate of their American counterparts.5 Stark differences in their lifestyle are apparent, even to a casual observer. ... |