Iowa's Oldest

Living a Longer and Better Life – Lessons from the Georgia Centenarian Study

Peter Martin [email protected] Gerontology Program and Human Development and Family Studies Iowa State University Overview

 Introduction  Lessons learned ◦ What is it like to be a centenarian? ◦ How do centenarians rate their physical and functional health? ◦ How do centenarians rate the emotional health? ◦ What about cognitive health? ◦ What about social resources? ◦ What about individual resources? ◦ Are centenarians successful agers? ◦ What is the secret of longevity?  What is the secret of longevity?

Living Longer and Better

 Exceptional Longevity  Healthy longevity  Disability-free life expectancy

Centenarians per 10,000 state population Centenarians in Selected States The Oldest Person Ever: 122 Years and 164 days (1875-1997)

Madame Calment claimed that an occasional glass of Port wine along with a diet rich in olive oil-- were the keys to her longevity.

Here are sample photos of the World's Oldest Documented Person, Madame Jeanne Calment of France, when she was 40 years old (in 1915) and then when she was 120 years old (in 1995). Currently Oldest Person

Kimura’s motto is “eat light to live long,” and says the key to his longevity is to be a healthy, small eater.

Residence Name Years Sex

1 Japan Jiroemon Kimura 115 M

2 Japan Misawo Okawa 114 F

3 United States (MI) Jeralean Talley 113 F Quotes from Centenarians

 How did I get so old? I don’t know why – I am busy.  Moderation – I never smoked or drank. I eat everything that civilized people eat.  I may be here tomorrow morning – I may not be. I have nothing to say about it. Tomorrow is another day.

Centenarian Studies

Georgia  Phase 1: 137 centenarians  Phase 2: 55 centenarians  Phase 3: 287 centenarians Iowa  Rural Aging: 104 centenarians and nonagenarians  Exceptional Longevity: 153 centenarians Heidelberg  91 centenarians

Total Number: 772 nonagenarians and centenarians

Georgia Adaptation Model

Poon et al., 1992 Conceptual Model – Exceptional Longevity Study

Individual Socio-Economic Resources Resources

Martin, P., Deshpande, N., Margrett, J., Franke, W., & Garasky, S. (2012). Introduction to the exceptional longevity study of centenarians in rural environments. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 75(4) 297-316. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2190/AG.75.4.a Lesson 1 WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE 100 YEARS OLD? What is it like to be 100 years?

“Oh, it's pretty gracious. I enjoy it. I don't feel like I'm 100.” Lesson 2 HOW DO CENTENARIANS RATE THEIR PHYSICAL AND FUNCTIONAL HEALTH?

Subjective Health Questions

How would you rate your overall health at the present time? ◦ 21% Excellent ◦ 49% Good ◦ 21% Fair ◦ 9% Poor

Activity and Functional Capacity

100 90 80 70 60 60-69 50 80-89 40 100+ Percent 30 20 10 0

Walk Shop Cook Phone Money

Housework

Martin, P., Poon, L. W., Kim, E., & Johnson, M. A. (1996). Social and psychological resources of the oldest old. Experimental Aging Research, 22, 121-139.

Changes in Activities of Daily Living

Randall, K., Martin, P., Bishop, A., Poon, L. W., & Johnson, M. A. (2011). Age differences and changes in resources essential to aging well: A comparison of sexagenarians, octogenarians, and centenarians. Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research, 2011, 1-12. doi: 10.1155/2011/357896 Lesson 3 HOW DO CENTENARIANS RATE THEIR EMOTIONAL HEALTH?

Emotional Health

Poon, L. W., Martin, P., & Margrett, J. (2010). Cognition and emotion in centenarians. In C. A. Depp, & D. V. Jeste (Eds.) Successful Cognitive and Emotional Aging (pp. 115-133). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc. Emotional Health

Depression or Fatigue?

Age Group Sexagenarians Octogenarians Centenarians Variable n M (SD) n M (SD) n M (SD) F

Dysphoria 88 0.85 (1.64) 86 0.73 (1.43) 131 0.98 (1.37) 0.78

Fatigue (WAV) 84 1.57a (1.70) 84 2.30b (1.17) 128 3.34c (1.47) 32.21***

Anxiety 88 0.49 (0.86) 90 0.52 (1.00) 134 0.51 (0.92) 0.03

Mental 87 1.00a (1.10) 89 1.46b (1.23) 128 1.34a,b (1.15) 3.81* Impairment Hopelessness 87 0.39a (0.87) 88 0.55a (0.90) 139 1.04b (1.14) 12.58***

Summary 80 11.10a (2.91) 79 11.52a (2.59) 117 13.40b 15.43*** Score (3.58)

Note. WAV – Withdrawal-Apathy-Vigor. Means with different superscripts are significantly different from each other. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Temple-Scheetz, L., Martin, P., & Poon, L. W. (in press). Do centenarians show higher levels of depression? Findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Journal of the American Geriatric Society.

Lesson 4 HOW ABOUT COGNITIVE HEALTH?

Cognitive Health, Iowa Centenarian Study

10 Percent

0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

SPMSQ Scores Frequencies of SPMSQ scores at baseline (N = 152)

Margrett, J. A., Hsieh, W-H., Heinz, M., & Martin, P. (2012). Cognitive status and change among Iowa Centenarians. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 75, 317 - 335. doi: 10.2190/AG.75.4.b

Cognitive Health, Iowa Centenarian Study

10 9 8

7 6 5 4

SPMSQ Score SPMSQ 3 2 1 0 Baseline Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time 4

Occasion Individual change in SPMSQ scores across baseline and 4 follow- up assessments occurring during an 8-month period (n = 28)

Question 5 WHAT ABOUT SOCIAL SUPPORT AND HELP? Social Support: “There are people I can depend on to help me, if I really need it” Mean Differences for Social Resources and Social Provisions

Randall, K., Martin, P., MacDonald, M., & Poon, L. W. (2010). Social resources and longevity: Findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Gerontology, 56, 106-111. Question 6 ARE CENTENARIANS UNIQUE? Robust, Resilient Personality

 Centenarians are not likely to worry, are quite agreeable and conscientious individuals  “…scientists came out to see what makes a 100-year-old woman tick. They brought a technician to draw vials of blood which were rushed to new Jersey for some reason – the blood was my first and only trip to that state” Sylvia Gailey Head Personality

0 Self Reports Proxy Reports

-2 RawScore

-4

-6

-8

Openness

Neuroticism

Extraversion

Agreeableness Conscientiousness

Martin, P., da Rosa, G., Siegler, I., Davey, A., MacDonald, M., Poon, L. W., et al. (2006). Personality and longevity: Findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Age, 28, 343-352.

Latent Profiles of U.S. and Japanese Centenarians

Da Rosa, G. (2012). The relationship between personality, life events and healthy longevity: A comparison of U.S. and Japanese centenarians. Doctoral dissertation, Iowa State University

Lesson 7 ARE CENTENARIANS SUCCESSFUL AGERS? Cho, J., Martin, P., & Poon, L. W. (2012). The older they are, the less successful they become? Findings from the Georgia Centenarian Study. Journal of Aging Research, 2012, 1-8. doi: 10.1155/2012/695854 Lesson 8 WHAT IS THE SECRET OF LONGEVITY? “The Fountain of Youth,” painted by Lucas Cranach the Elder in 1546 Core Dimensions of Exceptional Longevity

Genetics and Family Longevity

Personality Activity

Exceptional Longevity

Health Environmental Behaviors support

Physical and Mental Health Nine General Principles of Longevity

 There are many pathways to longevity  Surviving to age 80 is not necessarily the same as surviving to100  Longevity is highly gendered with stronger effects as people reach 100 years  Longevity depends on available resources  Longevity does not guarantee survival in good physical, functional, or cognitive health (longevity vs. healthy aging)  Long-lived individuals need to work harder at survival (daily life) Martin, P., Hagberg, B., & Poon, L. W. (2012). Models of studying centenarians and healthy aging. Asian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 7, 14-18. More Centenarian Quotes  How did I live to be 100? I took one day at a time.  Every day is a gift.  I don’t have no magic formula. I just went to work, done my job best I could. The years just piled up.  How did I live to be 100? I haven’t done anything special, I just lived. Age (Cecilia Payne Grove at 100)

Age is a quality of mind If you have left your dreams behind, If hope is lost If you no longer look ahead If ambitions fires are dead – Then you are old

Summary

 Demographic Changes  Core Dimensions of Longevity ◦ Activity vs. Fatigue ◦ Cognition vs. Dementia ◦ Mental Health vs. Depression ◦ Individual Resources: Personality ◦ Social Resources: Support  Exceptional Longevity Prescription

Investigators

Geneva Adkins, Aradhana Aneja, Jonathan Arnold, Joan Baenziger, Jamie Bennett, Alex Bishop, Martha Bramlett, Maureen Brown, Molly Burgess, Jinmyoung Cho, Bradley Courtenay, Grace da Rosa, J. Dai, Adam Davey, Kate Daugherty, Debra Dawson, Neha Deshpande, William Dudley, Rob Elsner, Marsha Goetting, Sandra Fanning, Bronwyn Fees, Joan Fisher, Doug Flor, Steve Fulks, Martha Gearing, Yasuyuki Gondo, Robert Green, Dorothy Hausman, Bob Hensley, Mindy Heinz, Anita Holmes, Philip Holtsberg, Wen- Hua Hsieh, Libby Jackson, Yuri Jang, Michal Jazwinski, Mary Ann Johnson, Norene Kelly, Michael D. Kerns, Eunkyung Kim, Matthias Kliegel, Kyunghwa Kwag, Kyuho Lee, Sil Lee, Linda Lieber, Lorrie (Raiser) Long, Lori Lucas, Maurice MacDonald, Jennifer Margrett, William Markesbery, Peter Martin, Sharon Merriam, Scott Messner, Michael Malone, Steve Miller, Martha Nichols, Sharon Nichols-Richardson, Carol Ann Noble, Marie (Durden) Poon, Betsy Pless, Leonard W. Poon, Mary Ellen (DasGupta) Quinn, Kevin Randall, Sandra Reynolds, William Rodgers, Susanne (Olsen) Roper, Christoph Rott, John Woodard, Ilene Siegler, Melissa Straughn, Anne Sweaney, and the rest of the gang!

The Secret of Longevity HOW DO YOU LIVE TO BE 100?

Answer LIVE TO 99, AND THEN BE VERY CAREFUL! MARK TWAIN