Longevity in women

I was reading an article on longevity in women. In addition to questions about menopause, age at first pregnancy etc., the questionnaire included questions on smoking and drinking. The alcohol question completely baffled me. It made no sense,

“Alcohol use was assessed using a health-seeking behavior questionnaire during the physical assessment. The question was “Do you try to avoid the use of alcohol?” The answers were “don’t try at all,” “try a little,” or “try a lot.” “

I was thinking how I would answer. I had a 6 oz. glass of red wine on November 4 and November 18 with dinner in a restaurant. That’s it. So am I “trying to avoid it” or am I “trying a lot to avoid it?” I didn’t order a 12 oz. or a second or third glass. There was no trying going on at all—I just know if I want to walk out of the restaurant rather than be carried out, I’ll just have one small glass. 

 The people being asked were centenarians born between 1881-1895 (study began in 1988). Those ladies were probably too polite to tell the researchers that they made no sense. And really, if a 105 year old woman wants a little libation, who is going to say, “It’s not good for your health, Grammy?”

When I looked through the “Discussion” section of the paper (2017) it used the weasel words meaning they didn’t find anything so therefore it needed more study. I did see one sentence that jumped out at me which they didn’t pursue at all: “ The introduction of “the Pill” [artificial hormones] in 1960 caused the fertility of women to change forever.” I wonder what else it has changed, don’t you? Maybe 3 generations of women on the pill produce a 4th who is a 10 year old who is confused about whether she’s a boy or girl?

Relationship of Fertility, Lifestyle, and Longevity Among Women | The Journals of Gerontology: Series A | Oxford Academic (oup.com)

More babies, longer life span?

https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article/61/2/190/542517/Does-Having-Children-Extend-Life-Span-A  The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Volume 61, Issue 2, 1 February 2006, Pages 190–195

I came across an interesting article on using the genealogies of Old Order Amish to see how parity affected life span. Having a lot of children seems to affect both the life span of the father and the mother. Only after 14 (!) children do the pregnancies have an adverse affect on the Amish mother.  You’d have to read it and look up a few words (like parity—means number of deliveries) The advantage that I see in using genealogical records instead of medical records is it ended in 1912, before our current era of modern medicine.

So is it good genes, later menopause therefore affecting life span, or maybe having enough children around to work on the farm and take care of you in your old age? Since the majority of Americans lived on farms before the 20th c. I doubt it is any of today's concerns about diet, GMO, gluten and pesticides.

My genealogy has many Mennonites, some Old Order and some Old Order Brethren, some River Brethren but not sure about Old Order Amish. So far I haven't found another article on health among Old Order sects in American culture, but they are probably out there. You only have to look at a 18th-20th c. genealogies to see the longevity.

If you are related to me on my mother's side, her grandparents were Wengers. There is a database of of Hans and Hannah Wenger, 474,000 - 496,000 names (depending on update) of individuals, mostly descended from 18th century Mennonites, River Brethren (Brethren in Christ) and German Baptist Brethren who settled in Lancaster, Lebanon and Franklin Counties, Pennsylvania, in Ontario, Canada and in Washington Co. Maryland and Botetourt Co. Virginia. In the 1800s a number of the families moved to Darke Co. and Montgomery Co. Ohio and to Iowa, Indiana and Kansas. In the early 1900s there was continued migration to Upland, Calif. and Modesto, Calif.

Ageism and 8 strategies

Almost 50 years ago Dr. Robert Butler, a gerontologist, coined the word "ageism." I was in my 20s then and probably laughed at the jokes and ridicule about the old that was so common in those days in the movies and on TV. Befuddled, confused, hair askew, thick glasses, sloppy, drooping socks that didn't match--it was standard fare, and probably the last group comedians could ridicule publicly with impunity. Except on social media (although now those sites have added hatred for white men to their list to demean and put down). I've logged out of those groups that called me an ugly old hag because of my faith or politics. Well, they'll learn. It was the boomers who were the writers and actors in those silly shows 30-50 years ago. And now look where they are--joking about the grandchildren showing them how to use their smart phones and forgetting the names of their neighbors of 20 years.

Butler died in 2010 and his final book, "The Longevity Prescription" listed 8 strategies, each a chapter in the book, for a healthy old age: maintain mental vitality; nurture your relationships; seek essential sleep; set stress aside; connect with your community; live the active life; eat your way to heath; and practice prevention. Good advice, even for millennials and gen-x. Genetics are only responsible for 25 percent of our length of life. The rest is lifestyle and environment.

And I'd add a 9th key--nurture your relationship with God.