Bookworms live two years longer

[issybird]

...according to a study by Yale researchers.

"Older individuals, regardless of gender, health status, wealth, or education, showed the survival advantage of reading books,” says Becca Levy, a professor of epidemiology and psychology. The survival advantage, she adds, persisted after adjustment for baseline cognition—meaning that it was the benefits of reading, rather than the readers’ previous cognitive capacity, that helped lengthen life spans. “More questions need to be answered,” Levy says. “But we know that reading books involves two cognitive processes that could confer a survival advantage: the slow, deep immersion needed to connect to content; and promotion of empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence."

That makes sense to me. The brain needs to be exercised and reading is a great way to do that. I suspect working puzzles, doing mathematical calculations, and other mental actions can also be of great benefit. I read not long ago that every time we learn something new our brains do not simply store it away in a storage bucket. The brain actually re-wires itself as we learn new things. So it is kind of like defragmenting an old hard-drive. The brain re-wires itself creating new pathways and in the process can bypass damaged areas. So read, read, read!!!!

[Witty Username]

Originally Posted by jswinden

That makes sense to me. The brain needs to be exercised and reading is a great way to do that.

Or maybe it is because the bookworm doesn't want to miss the next book in a series, then the next one, and the one after that...

[Cinisajoy]

This explains my aunt very well. She just turned 98.

[Barbara1955]

My G=dad couldn't read a lick - nor his brother bother lived to be 98 & 99. So I don't think reading is going to prolong my life.

[Bookpossum]

Originally Posted by Witty Username

Or maybe it is because the bookworm doesn't want to miss the next book in a series, then the next one, and the one after that...

Also, we tend to have piles of books we have bought but not managed to read yet, so there is the need to stay alive until we can catch up. But people keep on writing books, and we'll never manage to do so.

Thanks issybird - interesting article.

[ZodWallop]

Originally Posted by Katie1

both lived to be 98 & 99. So I don't think reading is going to prolong my life.

Just remember you said that when Willard Scott's great grandson is interviewing you on your 100th birthday

[barryem]

Both my parents and most of my grandparents lived into their mid 90's but that's not going to stop me. I've decided that there's just no benefit in dying and I'm not going to do it. My plan is to live forever and I'm going to do that if it kills me.

Barry

[cfrizz]

Originally Posted by barryem

Both my parents and most of my grandparents lived into their mid 90's but that's not going to stop me. I've decided that there's just no benefit in dying and I'm not going to do it. My plan is to live forever and I'm going to do that if it kills me.

Barry

:r ofl:

[frahse]

I would like to see other kinds of comparisons beside the simple attributen of reading.

exercise, alcohol, smoking, drugs, money, work, length of work life, number of vacations, marital status, family, number of children, extended family, friends, dogs, cats, outdoors, hunting, fishing, climbing mountains, horseback riding, etc....

[william z]

Originally Posted by issybird

...according to a study by Yale researchers.

There could be something to that. I am 77 and have been reading ever since I learned how. I read every day; I think it keeps my mind sharp and gives me something to look forward to; always wanting to read another book.

[GA Russell]

I think it's because readers park their fat lazy rear ends in comfy chairs.

The guys who die young are the ones who like to run.

[drjd]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

I think it's because readers park their fat lazy rear ends in comfy chairs.

The guys who die young are the ones who like to run.

Wholeheartedly agreed!

Good article.. thanks issybird!

[drofgnal]

Originally Posted by jswinden

That makes sense to me. The brain needs to be exercised and reading is a great way to do that. I suspect working puzzles, doing mathematical calculations, and other mental actions can also be of great benefit. I read not long ago that every time we learn something new our brains do not simply store it away in a storage bucket. The brain actually re-wires itself as we learn new things. So it is kind of like defragmenting an old hard-drive. The brain re-wires itself creating new pathways and in the process can bypass damaged areas. So read, read, read!!!!

I think it is more the mental exercise and not just the reading. If you found someone who solved differential equations for a retirement past time I'm sure you could say the same.

My dad died of Alzheimers. I had to move him close by for his last four years when he could no longer live on his own. First it was assisted living, then for the last year a nursing home. He kept a couple of books on his coffee table and seemed to pick them up and read from them from time to time, but he never changed the books. As his disease progressed the books went away but he still maintained an insistence on reading the newspaper every morning. I'd stop by on the way to work and find him in the common area having a cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. Not sure how much of it he really read, but he'd spend a good 30 minutes flipping through it and having his coffee before breakfast.

I asked a couple of professionals about his behavior with reading. They told me that as the brain dies of Alzheimers reading is one of the last things to go. When his oral communication skills deteriorated badly I took to leaving him sticky notes all over his room. That seemed to work, at least for a while.

Did reading keep him alive longer? I don't know, but it was one of the last communicative tools I had with the exception of a good hug and 'I love you dad'.

[kennyc]

It's a dangerous world out there.