Want to Live Longer? Some Factors Are Within Your Control

“After 35+ years practicing family medicine, I’m still astounded that most men don’t come in on their own for a routine physical,” says Dr. Timothy Lowney, founder of Family Medical Associates of Canton and Seekonk, Mass. “Those who do come in have a common theme: ‘My wife made me make the appointment.’”

Some facts reaffirm the data that, although U.S. life expectancy has increased for both sexes, the gap between males and females has actually widened. In 1900, female life expectancy was 48 years and for males, it was 46 years – a gap of two years. Today, average U.S. female life expectancy is about 81 compared with 76 for males – a gap of 5 years! In Massachusetts, overall life expectancy is 80.1.

Dr. Lowney notes that men not only die younger than women, they are also burdened with more illness during life, including more acute illness at a younger age and more chronic disease. Men outpace women in such leading causes of death as heart disease, cancer, COPD, accidents, diabetes, kidney disease, flu and pneumonia, among others. More than half of women over 65 are widows, Dr. Lowney notes.

Dr. Lowney describes the factors involved in the life expectancy gender gap:

· Biologic factors – sex chromosome, hormones, metabolism

· Social factors – work stress, lack of social network support

· Behavioral factors – risky/aggressive behavior, smoking, alcohol/substance abuse, diet, lack of exercise, lack of routine medical care (annual physical checkups.)

“Obviously we can’t change the biologic factors,” says Dr. Lowney, “but we can work with patients to close the life expectancy gap. We recommend men change their habits and behavior: Eat healthy, exercise regularly, stay lean, limit alcohol, reduce stress, reduce exposure to toxins and sunlight, get regular checkups, seek joy and share it with others. And remember: Laughter really is good medicine.”

Civilization is making progress in life expectancy – though not as much as you might think. In the Bronze Age (5,000 years ago), the average human lived to age 26. In ancient Greece (until about 1,500 years ago), the average was 28. In ancient Rome (about 1,500 years ago), the average expectancy was 30, but if you reached age 10, life expectancy was 45. In medieval Britain (about 1,000 years ago), if you reached 21, you could expect to reach 64. In 2010, the world population’s average age was 67. Of interest: While there are about 70,000 centenarians in the U.S. today and 450,000 worldwide, it’s estimated that by 2050, there will be four million centenarians – 10 times today’s total. (How many ‘supercentenarians’ are there – people between 110 and 115? At any given time, there are about 60 verified worldwide!)

This past year, led by Dr. Timothy Lowney, Jr., Family Medical Associates introduced House Calls, a service targeting anyone for whom a trip to the doctor’s office may be hazardous or cause extreme anxiety. Associated with this is a new Transitional Care service in which the doctor follows patients from home to assisted living to nursing home, a continuity of care that has all but disappeared. Family Medical Associates is located in Canton Center at 709 Washington St. near the Canton Center MBTA Commuter Rail Station. For information and appointments: (781) 828-5351. Family Medical Associates, Seekonk, Mass., is located at 194 Central Ave.: Call (508) 761-6785. - By Stanley Hurwitz / (508) 269-0570 / stanhurwitz@gmail.com