Changing Aging Blogs
[Is your blog changing aging? Let us know at changingaging AT gmail DOT com]
- Ageless Marketing
- A Little Red Hen
- Better Than I Ever Expected
- Boomers
- Cab Drollery
- Duplex Planet
- EChronicles
- Ecumen's Changing Aging Blog
- EdlerAbuse.org
- Elder Law Issues
- Elder Storytelling Place
- Embodied Aging
- Global Ageing Network Blog
- Maya's Granny
- O'Folks
- Real Sage Advice
- Remembering Matters
- The Boomer Chronicles
- The Savvy Boomer
- The Story of Stuff
- Time Goes By
- Women's Voices for Change
Politics
- Daily Kos
- Grasping Reality
- The Huffington Post
- Talking Points Memo
- Think Progress
- The Washington Monthly
Media & Culture
- CJR Daily
- FAIR's Media Views
- FuturePundit
- Infomaniac: Behind the News
- Social Media
- Romenesko
- Truemors
Health & Science
News
Changing Aging Books
Search
Recent Posts
- ChangingAging.org Redesign -- Please Bookmark!
- Disaster in Buffalo
- Power Up Friday
- Blanchard WinsDays
- Kevin Frick writes...
- Monkhouse Monday
- Getting Closer!
- Blanchard WinsDays
- Power Up Friday
- My Pick for Health and Human Services
- Understanding Health Care Reform
- Facts Are Stubborn Things: Social Security Edition
- Monkhouse Monday
- Localism is Coming
- Krugman Can't Wait...
Recent Comments
- Dorothea Johnson on
Power Up Friday
Category Archives
- AGING 100
- Aging
- Culture
- Dementia
- Eden Alternative
- Erickson School
- Green House
- Health Policy
- Longevity
- Media
- Rockets
Monthly Archives
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
Subscribe to this blog's feed
Blog Data
« Blanchard WinsDays | Main | Power Up Friday #2 »
January 2, 2009 |Permalink |Comments (1)
Power Up Friday
I’m catching up on my end-of-year reading, and have a couple of books to recommend. This week, it’s Malcolm Gladwell’s latest tome, “Outliers: The Story of Success”. This book examines those individuals who do better, (or worse), than most and the factors involved. Surprisingly, he finds that success is only partly a function of determination and innate talent. Other factors play a major role, such as timing, serendipitous connections and culture.
The book explores a variety of topics, such as why all the best young Canadian hockey stars are born early in the year, how Korea turned its dismal airline safety record around by de-emphasizing culture, and why rice paddies have helped Asian students, with no greater IQ or innate ability, to outshine us at math. Interesting and thought-provoking stuff.
Apropos to this blog, Gladwell tells the fascinating story of Italian immigrants from Foggia who settled the small Pennsylvania mining town of Roseto. In the 1950s, with heart disease running rampant, it was discovered that these immigrants weren’t dying as early as everyone else in the nation. A local physician found few residents under 65 with heart disease, which was unheard of at the time. (There was also little crime, no suicide, no ulcer disease; most of them simply were “dying of old age”.)
The famous “Mediterranean diet” didn’t seem to be a factor – most of them had adopted a diet high in saturated fats and were obese. They also smoked, drank and worked in the nearby slate quarries. Immigrants from other cultures who settled the neighboring towns had the usual diseases, as did their Foggian countrymen who settled elsewhere in America. Therefore, genes and the local water supply were not the answer.
What the investigation found was that the key to their robust health lay in the community they had formed. They had multiple generations in one household and their village had a very close, collaborative social structure which had been transplanted in order to help them deal with the pressures of living in a foreign society. This community kept them alive.
Such a discovery flies in the face of the traditional “heart healthy” advice, which puts the onus on an individual’s choices-- diet, exercise, etc. Apparently the larger organism of the community must be healthy as well -- that may be even more important than the individual choices we make!
Next week, I’ll tell you about Carter Williams’ fascinating journey through time.
Comments ( 1)
Another interesting book that recently came out and addresses similar issues is called Blue Zones. It is a result of a NIH funded study of centenarians among various cultures throughout the world. The author found pockets of cultures that he referred to as "blue zones" where people lived incredibly long and healthy lives in spite of seemingly harsh environments - Costa Rica, Okinawa, Sardinia...
Anyway, the book goes out of its way to figure out common patterns in diet and activities but somehow fails to be convincing. It seemed like, if anything, some of these lifestyles were almost contradictory to each other. The only common theme that emerged out of these far corners of the world had to do with two things - having a purpose in life (a reason to get up in the morning) and strong connection to family, friends and community. While you can't really create a recipe book out of those conclusions (as Dr. Mehmed Oz tried to do), you can certainly adopt these principles in day-to-day living.
I would tell you more except that I just got this overwhelming urge to shut off the computer and join my son for a game of soccer. It's a beautiful Saturday here in Virginia!