Our risk of dying increases as we get older because more can go wrong, says Olshanksy, citing what those in the field call increased competitive risks. "If you do an autopsy on an 85-year-old who died of a stroke, you will find five other things that person was about to die from."
While research continues to look at ways to help people live longer and healthier, Perls is looking at populations that seem to do that better than most.
The Seventh-day Adventists are such a group: They live to an average age of 88, or about 10 years longer than other people in the country. They don't smoke. They tend to be lean and fit and get regular exercise. They eat a largely vegetarian diet and spend a lot of time involved with family and religion, which scientists think helps them manage stress.
"If everyone in our country adopted those behaviors, the payoff would be huge," said Perls, an associate professor of geriatrics at Boston University Medical Center. He would add one more piece of advice to the list:
"Avoid anti-aging quacks like the plague."
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health@latimes.com
