Aug. 4--The will to live longer has pushed its way to the forefront as baby boomers hit their 60s, retire and find themselves with enough energy for a second lifetime.
"Since we left the Garden of Eden, we've been looking for the river of immortality," says Dr. John Morley, head of geriatric medicine at St. Louis University School of Medicine. Morley is co-author of the book "The Science of Staying Young" (McGraw Hill, 254 pages, $24.95) with Sheri Colberg, professor of exercise science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va. "They want something that will make them live forever without any effort."
Still, doctors say some of the things you can do to live longer don't require a trip to the doctor, a visit to a pharmacist or even being careful at the grocery. They require behaving.
"Use your brain like you do your heart; I think the standard advice is common sense," says Dr. Dan Emerson with the emergency medicine department at St. John's Mercy Medical Center. "Yet, as Mark Twain observed, 'Common sense ain't that common.' "
Here are a few suggestions doctors offer that you can do to increase the odds that you live longer.
WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT
Traffic accidents killed 42,642 people in the United States in 2006, says the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Liver, kidney, cancer of the esophagus or many other cancers don't kill that many people. While about 1.4 million people contracted cancer in 2006, 2.6 million people were injured or disabled by traffic accidents.
Incidentally, while traffic fatalities are declining, the rate of passenger deaths is rising. And 55 percent of passengers killed in traffic mishaps weren't wearing seat belts.
LOVE FRIENDS, FAMILY
Form loving relationships and value your friends and family.
"Pick friends that veer towards sanity," says Emerson of St. John's Mercy.
VALUE WORK
Seek and secure worthwhile life work, not too much, and make it count, say faculty members of the faculty of the Curtis W. and Ann H. Long Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. A recent British study showed workers were 68 percent more likely to die of heart disease, suffer a nonfatal heart attack or develop chest pain from long-term job stress. Stressed workers tend to have unhealthy diets and are less active.
WEAR A HELMET
About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized, says Helmet.org.
ENJOY LEISURE TIME
Take vacations and use your personal time, says Dr. C. Robert Cloninger, a psychiatrist and director of the Sansone Family Center for Well-Being at Washington University. Americans take too few vacations and use too little personal time. "Maybe it's just taking half-hour breaks, or walking around your building," Cloninger says. "You need that time to decompress."
MARRIAGE IS GOOD
Get married and stay married, says Dr. H. Thomas Johnson, a family physician with SLUCare. Indeed, many studies show that married people live longer in every age range. A recent study aimed at singles found that people who never married or became single through divorce or death had shorter lifespans. The effect held true across all age groups, even younger ones, according to researchers from the University of California in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
FAMILY HISTORY IMPORTANT
Look back a generation or two into your family history. Knowing what diseases run in your family can help you take steps to lower the risks, doctors say.
LOVE YOURSELF
Allocate 15 minutes of "me" time everyday, says Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University and past president of the American Dietetics Association.
SLEEP WELL
Get enough sleep, says Dr. Joseph Ojile, head of the Clayton Sleep Institute. Poor sleep has been linked to heart disease, obesity and mental health problems. "People who pay attention to their sleep health over their lives appear to live longer and healthier," Ojile said. "At the end of the day, grandma was right. Get your sleep.
"It's like exercise. It should be a regular part of your (health maintenance)."
DON'T SMOKE
Stop smoking. Nearly 100 percent of doctors say this. Talk to your doctor or check www.smokefree.gov.
harry.jackson@post-dispatch.com -- 314-340-8234
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