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Business Insider
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
10 celebrities who lived to 100 — and how they did it
Norman Lear Iconic screenwriter and producer Norman Lear, who died in December 2023 at the age of 101, said that work (and loving his job) is what kept him going. "Some people run. I don't run. I wake up and do the things that please me. That's my present to myself. That's my prayer. That's everything," he told USA Today as he turned 100 in 2022. He reiterated this in a chat with the Los Angeles Times in 2020. "When I go to sleep at night," he said, "I have something that I'm thinking. Among other things, it's about something I'm doing tomorrow." He added, "So today is over, and we're on to the next." There's evidence to suggest that delaying retirement could add years to your life. A 2015 study that followed 83,000 adults over 65 for 15 years, published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, found that, compared with people who retired, people who worked past age 65 were about three times more likely to report being in good health. Jimmy Carter The 39th president lived to be 100, dying in December 2024, almost three months after his landmark birthday. He credited one person with helping him live that long: his wife, Rosalynn. They were married for 77 years before her death in 2023. "It's hard to live until you're 95 years old," he told People in 2019. "I think the best explanation for that is to marry the best spouse: someone who will take care of you and engage and do things to challenge you, and keep you alive and interested in life," he said. Research suggests that having strong social bonds can help you live longer. A 2021 meta-review published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology found that the link between social support and longevity is as strong as the link between not smoking and longevity. Bob Hope Bob Hope, known for his vaudeville, acting, comedy, and his hosting gig at the Academy Awards a record 19 times, died in July 2003, two months after his 100th birthday. Back in the '80s, when he was a spry 78, he said he made sure to walk 2 miles every day, no matter where he was, per Men's Health. He learned this lesson from his grandfather. "When he was 96 years old, he walked two miles to the local pub every day to get a drink. He died within a month of his 100th birthday, and he remained mentally sharp till the very end," said Hope. There's science to back up their method. A 2024 study published in the British Journal of Sports Science analyzed health and mortality data from the 2019 US Census, the 2003—2006 National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, and the National Center for Health Statistics. Using a mathematical model, the authors predicted that people who walk for around 160 minutes a day live an average of five years longer than their sedentary peers. They speculated that if the least active Americans walked for an extra 111 minutes daily, they could live up to 11 years longer. Dolores Hope Bob Hope lived to be 100, but his wife, Dolores, managed to outlive him. She died in 2011 at the age of 102. While Dolores didn't publicly share theories on how she made it to triple-digits, her daughters had their own ideas. Her oldest daughter, Linda (who's now in her 90s herself), told ABC7 in 2009: "Laugh a lot. Laughter is something that's been part of our lives, and I have to think that is a large part responsible for their happiness and for their long lives." Olivia de Havilland The "Gone with the Wind" star lived to be an impressive 104 years old. She died in July 2020. De Havilland, in addition to crediting the "three Ls" (love, laughter, and light) with her longevity, told Vanity Fair in 2016 that she kept her mind sharp by doing The New York Times crossword every single day. In a 2022 study published in the journal NEJM Evidence, 107 adults with mild cognitive impairment were asked to do an intensive program of web-based crossword puzzles or games for 12 weeks, followed by booster sessions up to 78 weeks. The authors found that 37% of participants in the crossword groups improved by two points on an Alzheimer's scale. Kirk Douglas The Hollywood icon and star of films such as "Spartacus" and "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" lived to 103. He died in February 2020. Douglas wrote an essay for Newsweek in 2008, when he was 91, about growing old. "Humor helps longevity," he wrote. "Try to think of others, try to help them. You will be amazed how that lessens your depression. That satisfaction is priceless," he added. "The greatest dividend to old age is the discovery of the true meaning of love." Gloria Stuart Much like her "Titanic" character Rose, Stuart lived to become a centenarian, briefly. She turned 100 in July 2010 and died two months later. As her 1999 memoir, "I Just Kept Hoping," suggests, Stuart used her career to fuel her into her old age. "I was driven then [in the 1930s], and I'm driven now," she told SF Gate at the time. After Stuart's death in 2010, NPR host Ari Shapiro added, "Her daughter says that during her long life, her mother did not believe in illness. She paid no attention to it, and it served her well." Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother The Queen Mother died in 2002 at the age of 101. Clearly, longevity runs in the family, as her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, lived to be 96 before dying in September 2022. The Queen Mother had some frank advice for living a long life. In her official biography, she said, "'Wouldn't it be terrible if you'd spent all your life doing everything you were supposed to do, didn't drink, didn't smoke, didn't eat things, took lots of exercise, and suddenly, one day, you were run over by a big red bus and, as the wheels were crunching into you, you'd say, 'Oh my God, I could have got so drunk last night.' That's the way you should live your life, as if tomorrow you'll be run over by a big red bus." George Burns The vaudeville star and comedian knew people would be curious about how to live to 100, so he decided to write the book "How To Live To Be 100 Or More." Burns, who died in March 1996 at 100 years old, told UPI Hollywood, "You'll be happier and live longer if you find a job you love; that way you avoid stress. Never take stress to bed with you. Work on it in the morning." He also confirmed that he did 45 minutes of exercise every day before taking a "brisk 15-minute walk around the neighborhood." He also had "two or three drinks a day" and always had a cigar close by (though, according to him, he never inhaled). He steered clear of cigarettes, however. Being active is linked to living longer in better health. A 2022 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that of 99,713 participants aged 55 to 74, those who did regular aerobic exercise and strength training were 41% less likely to die from any cause in the seven to 10 years after. "I don't believe a lot of this medical stuff. They say everything you eat and drink causes cancer. Don't pay too much attention to that," Burns added. Eva Marie Saint Saint, the oldest living and earliest surviving Oscar winner, will turn 101 in July 2025. "I continue to take walks out in the fresh air, like watching baseball — especially the Los Angeles Dodgers, and enjoy time with my family and friends," she told People ahead of her 100th birthday last year.
Boston Globe
30-04-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
Citing NIH cuts, a top science journal stops accepting submissions
He declined to comment on the publication's future prospects. 'If the journal is indeed lost, it is a huge loss,' said Jonathan Levy, chair of the department of environmental health at Boston University. 'It's reducing the ability for people to have good information that can be used to make good decisions.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The news comes weeks after a federal prosecutor in Washington sent letters to several scientific journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, with questions that suggested that they were biased against certain views and influenced by external pressures. Advertisement The editor of The New England Journal of Medicine described the letter as 'vaguely threatening.' On Tuesday, the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said that it had received such a letter. Scientific journals have long been a target of top health officials in the Trump administration. In a book published last year, Dr. Marty Makary, the new commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, accused journal editorial boards of 'gate-keeping' and publishing only information that supports a 'groupthink narrative.' Advertisement In an interview with the 'Dr. Hyman Show' podcast last year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is now secretary of health and human services, said he planned to prosecute medical journals under federal anti-corruption laws. 'I'm going to find a way to sue you unless you come up with a plan right now to show how you're going to start publishing real science,' he said. Still, the announcement regarding Environmental Health Perspectives baffled researchers, who pointed out that the funding cuts seemed to conflict with the Trump administration's stated priorities. For instance, Kennedy has repeatedly emphasized the importance of studying the environment's role in causing chronic diseases. The new administration has also expressed interest in the transparency and public accessibility of scientific journals, an area in which Environmental Health Perspectives has been a trailblazer. Environmental Health Perspectives was one of the first 'open-access' journals, allowing anyone to read without a subscription. And unlike many other open-access journals, which often charge researchers thousands of dollars to publish their work, Environmental Health Perspectives' federal support meant scientists from smaller universities could publish without worrying about a fee. 'There are multiple layers of irony here,' Levy said. Environmental Health Perspectives isn't the only journal caught in the crossfire of funding cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services. A draft budget for the department, obtained by The New York Times, proposes axing two journals published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Emerging Infectious Diseases and Preventing Chronic Disease. Both are published free of charge to authors and readers and are among the top journals in their fields. Advertisement Andrew Nixon, an HHS spokesperson, said 'no final decision has been made' about the upcoming budget. Emerging Infectious Diseases, published monthly, provides cutting-edge reports on infectious disease threats from around the world. It has helped to shape preparedness and response to outbreaks, said Jason Kindrachuk, a virus expert at the University of Manitoba who has published research on the Marburg and mpox viruses in the journal. The news 'is very disheartening,' he said.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Study shows how long you have to exercise to lower your risk of 19 conditions
We've already seen plenty of research showing us the many benefits of exercise, from lowering blood pressure to perking up your mood. We're already convinced, but the research keeps coming, and a new study reveals how many minutes of heart rate-raising exercise you need to do every day to lower your risk of 19 health conditions. That's worth knowing about, especially with the rates of chronic disease on the rise in the United States. Seeing more and more people interested in prioritizing health and fitness is refreshing, and this new study gives us another reason to go for that run or stay true to that workout schedule. It turns out you don't have to work out for hours to protect yourself from this many diseases. Let's look at the new research. In a study published in Preventing Chronic Disease, researchers wanted to explore whether exercise can be considered a 'vital sign' of health in the same way as pulse, temperature, blood pressure, and breathing. The researchers from the University of Iowa pointed out how physical activity is rarely measured or managed in primary care settings, and they wanted to know if screening patients for physical inactivity is worthwhile. Finding out how regularly someone exercises as part of a health assessment tells us a lot about their overall health and wellness. The researchers asked 7,261 patients to attend checkups regarding their activity status. During these checkups, researchers gathered information on their disease diagnoses and resting pulse. They asked patients the following questions: On average, how many days per week do you engage in moderate to vigorous exercise, like a brisk walk? On average, how many minutes do you engage in exercise at this level? The results showed that: 60% of participants were considered active. 36% were insufficiently active. 4% were inactive. The highest level of physical activity involved exercising moderately to vigorously for at least 150 minutes per week or for 22 minutes a day. Those who reported the highest level of physical activity had a significantly lower risk of 19 chronic conditions, including diabetes, respiratory disease, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. On the flip side, those who completed the least exercise had the highest risk of all 19 conditions. The researchers concluded that exercise can definitely be considered a vital sign because activity levels tell us so much about a person's individual health and health risks. Screening people for their activity level, as well as checking their blood pressure, temperature, and other vital signs, can help doctors prompt earlier interventions, treatments, and lifestyle changes. Answering those two questions takes less than a minute. Our bodies were made to move, and this study only confirms that. You're well on your way to reducing disease risk and boosting your health if you can manage 22 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous exercise or a total of 150 minutes a week split up how you'd like. The goal is to get your heart rate up in the best way that works for you, whether that's going for a run or bike ride, brisk walking, strength training, or taking a short high-intensity interval training or aerobics class. The post Study shows how long you have to exercise to lower your risk of 19 conditions appeared first on The Manual.
