Why Do Some People Age Better Than Others?

Above, our group from Jamestown at Grandpa's Grill in Gallup.

My great uncle used to say, "Growing old isn't so bad when you consider the alternative!" 

Now that I am in my 70s, I have to agree with him. As of now, I feel pretty good. I have some aches and pains, but they are not major. I can still get around and with the exception of forgetting some minor things, I still have my marbles. 

The key, for me at least, is keeping active. I still enjoy travel and drives in my 1952 Jeep in the nearby national forest. I have a good social network in our community. I actually know more people in Jamestown, New Mexico than I did when I lived in Los Angeles. I tend to be the "organizer" of activities for my circle of friends. Tomorrow, for instance, we are going to our local shooting area for some plinking. This was initiated by me. We also meet up at Denny's at the local Flying J Travel Center and at Grandpa's Grill in Gallup every week. Our age group is roughly the same.

I do this "hobby blog" for one main reason: for exercising the brain. I can write faster and better than when I first started it back in 2008. "If you don't use it, you'll lose it" rings true.

According to an article in RV Travel, some people age better than others. 

It starts with:

I learned about this study on aging from the University of Colorado and thought it would be of interest to RVtravel.com readers, many of whom are in their 60s, 70s and even 80s. —C.W.

The research

As a nurse working in an elder care facility, Isabelle Foote saw it every day: Some people age better than others.

Some eased into their 90s with mind and body intact, while others battled diabetes, Alzheimer’s or mobility issues decades earlier. Some could withstand a bad fall or bout of the flu with ease, while others never left the hospital again.

“Why was this happening to them and not the person next to them who was the same age and got to go home? We really didn’t have a lot of answers,” said Foote, who left that job to become a geneticist.

In a paper published recently in the journal Nature Genetics, Foote, now a postdoctoral associate at CU Boulder’s Institute for Behavioral Genetics, provides some clues.

She and an international team of co-authors have identified more than 400 genes associated with accelerated aging across seven different sub-types. The study reveals that different groups of genes underlie different kinds of disordered aging, aka frailty, ranging from cognitive decline to mobility issues to social isolation.

To read more, go here.