Upcoming
Tuesday, September 30
Geriatrics Grand Rounds
How to Live Forever: A 60-year Prospective Study
Presenter:
George Vaillant, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Trustman Boardroom
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center-East
4:30-5:30 p.m.
Since 1937, a project now directed by George Vaillant has followed 237 students at Harvard University and 332 socially disadvantaged youths from inner-city Boston through health and disease. It is the world's longest continuous study of physical and mental health and has yielded some potent predictors of successful aging.
"The study shows that successful aging is not an oxymoron," says Vaillant, an HMS professor of psychiatry at Brigham and Women's Hospital and director of the study for the past 37 years.
Vaillant and his colleagues at Harvard University Health Services identified seven predictors, which are at least partly under personal control, and, if followed before age 50, can lead to good physical and mental health at age 70 and beyond.
Some of them are old news, like quitting smoking, exercising regularly, and not abusing alcohol. Others are a surprise; for example, education surpasses money and social prestige as a route to health and happiness.
The three other controllable predictors are marriage stability, weight control, and effective coping mechanisms.