Longevity

Abstract: A C. elegans neurosecretory signaling system regulates whether animals enter the reproductive life cycle or arrest development at the long-lived dauer diapause stage. daf-2, a key gene in the genetic pathway that mediates this endocrine signaling, encodes an insulin receptor family member. Decreases in DAF-2 signaling induce metabolic and developmental changes, as in mammalian metabolic control by the insulin receptor. Decreased DAF-2 signaling also causes an increase in life-span. Life-span regulation by insulin-like metabolic control is analogous to mammalian longevity enhancement induced by caloric restriction, suggesting a general link between metabolism, diapause, and longevity.

Abstract: Seven types of evidence are reviewed that indicate that high subjective wellbeing (such as life satisfaction, absence of negative emotions, optimism, and positive emotions) causes better health and longevity For example, prospective longitudinal studies of normal populations provide evidence that various types of subjective well-being such as positive affect predict health and longevity, controlling for health and socioeconomic status at baseline Combined with experimental human and animal research, as well as naturalistic studies of changes of subjective well-being and physiological processes over time, the case that subjective well-being influences health and longevity in healthy populations is compelling However, the claim that subjective well-being lengthens the lives of those with certain diseases such as cancer remains controversial Positive feelings predict longevity and health beyond negative feelings However, intensely aroused or manic positive affect may be detrimental to health Issues such as causality, effect size, types of subjective well-being, and statistical controls are discussed

Abstract: Featuring extensive references, updated for this paperback edition, "Longevity, Senescence, and the Genome" constitutes a contribution to biomedicine and the evolutionary biology of ageing. To enhance gerontology's focus on human age-related dysfunctions, Caleb E. Finch provides a comparative review of all the phyla of organisms, broadening gerontology to intersect with behavioral, developmental, evolutionary, and molecular biology. By comparing species that have different developmental and life spans, Finch proposes a typology of senescence from rapid to gradual to negligible, and he provides the first multiphyletic calculations of mortality rate constants.

Abstract: Handwritten autobiographies from 180 Catholic nuns, composed when participants were a mean age of 22 years, were scored for emotional content and related to survival during ages 75 to 95. A strong inverse association was found between positive emotional content in these writings and risk of mortality in late life (p < .001). As the quartile ranking of positive emotion in early life increased, there was a stepwise decrease in risk of mortality resulting in a 2.5-fold difference between the lowest and highest quartiles. Positive emotional content in early-life autobiographies was strongly associated with longevity 6 decades later. Underlying mechanisms of balanced emotional states are discussed. Longevity may be related to a variety of factors including heredity, gender, socioeconomic status, nutrition, social support, medical care, and personality and behavioral characteristics (Robine, Vaupel, Jeune, & Allard, 1997). These factors might operate throughout life or at particular life stages. Recent findings from the Nun Study, a longitudinal study of older Catholic sisters, indicated that linguistic ability in early life is associated with survival in late life (Snowdon, Greiner, Kemper, Nanayakkara, & Mortimer, 1999). In that study, the idea density (proposition, information, and content) of autobiographies written at a mean age of 22 years was strongly related to survival and longevity 6 decades later. Because