“How are the world’s best coping with aging today?”

Ranked the world's No. 1 hospital for seven consecutive years from 2019 to 2025 by Newsweek
Mayo Clinic's Guide to Selective Aging

Newsweek, a global weekly news magazine, has been selecting and announcing the world's best hospitals every year since 2019.
The Mayo Clinic, located in Minnesota, USA, is the world's best hospital, consistently ranking first every year, beating out well-known hospitals like Johns Hopkins Hospital and Cleveland Clinic.
Of course, I can't help but be curious.
So how do the world's best hospitals deal with aging?

This book is a compilation of Mayo Clinic's tips for aging healthily and happily.
As we age, we may experience some aches and pains, but the choices we make and the actions we take can significantly change the outcome.
Mayo Clinic researchers emphasize this "selective aging," systematically elucidating the biology of aging—the reasons why humans age—and exploring concrete, actionable approaches across all areas of life.
It covers all aspects of aging, including how to cope with health threats, how to activate the brain and body, how to maintain nutrition and balance, resilience and mindfulness, relationships and life satisfaction, retirement planning and living a fulfilling life.
For each topic, we provide practical methods you can implement right now to help you live a healthy and purposeful life.
From aging mechanisms by body part and the immune system to exercise, diet, relationships, wellness vision, and social skills, now discover the world's leading hospitals' comprehensive guide to selective aging.

However, not everyone who experiences brain changes associated with dementia shows signs of dementia.
Why is that? Suppose two people share similar characteristics of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.
However, one person may have memory loss while another may have no memory problems at all.
Experts say the difference between the two comes down to 'cognitive reserve.'
simply
In other words, cognitive reserve refers to the brain's ability to adapt well when pathological changes occur, such as changes in brain regions associated with dementia.
Experts say that an individual's cognitive reserve is not set at birth.
Cognitive reserve develops and expands throughout life and may offset some of the changes that lead to dementia.
Some activities are particularly helpful in developing cognitive reserve.
Activities that moderately stimulate the brain, such as learning a new skill or language, are thought to be most helpful for building cognitive reserve.
--- p.44

In one study, scientists divided participants into two groups.
One group did aerobic exercise, while the other group did stretching and balance exercises.
A year later, scientists found that the group that did aerobic exercise had a larger hippocampus, the brain region involved in creating new memories, than the other group.
In another study, scientists found that people with a gene that predisposes them to Alzheimer's disease could delay the onset of the disease by several years if they exercised more than 150 minutes a week.
Conversely, people with Alzheimer's disease-causing genes who exercised less than 150 minutes per week developed Alzheimer's disease earlier.
It's not clear whether exercise can reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, but the studies mentioned suggest that it might.
--- p.53

The formation of the bone skeleton is similar to the endless work of repairing a house.
Bone is continually removed and replaced with new bone throughout life through a process called bone remodeling.
Bone remodeling occurs simultaneously in millions of small areas on the bone surface.
Bone remodeling occurs for several important reasons.
The first is simply repairing damage caused by wear and tear.
Second, it helps ensure that enough calcium and other minerals circulate in the bloodstream to perform mineral-dependent bodily functions.
Finally, bone remodeling occurs in response to physical activity.
The skeleton adapts to heavier weight and greater pressure by forming new bone.
--- p.132

Sleep deprivation can lead to impulsive behavior, poor judgment, and irritability, and sleep deprivation can make decision-making difficult.
Interestingly, studies show that for every additional hour spent awake during the day, the likelihood of making healthy food choices decreases by 2%.
Research also shows that sleep and the immune system have a two-way relationship.
While immune system activation following an infection can disrupt sleep, it can also help maintain deep, long sleep, allowing the body to store the energy it needs to recover.
Poor sleep quality can lead to cellular stress, which can trigger mild but chronic activation of the body's inflammatory response.
Sleep helps your body heal and reduce the daily damage caused by inflammation.
If you're too sleep-deprived, you're dealing with a double whammy: existing inflammatory damage isn't repaired, while more cellular damage accumulates.
--- p.220

Aim to eat three nutritious meals a day that include fruits, vegetables, protein, healthy fats, whole grains, and low-fat dairy.
In particular, make sure to consume enough protein.
The recommended daily intake of protein for weight maintenance is 0.8 grams per kilogram, so for a person weighing 68 kilograms, this is approximately 54 grams.
Even though you need to consume more protein than this to build muscle, most older people don't consume this much.
As you age, it may be beneficial to consume more protein than the recommended daily allowance.
This is because the body may become less efficient at using protein as it ages.
Chronic inflammation due to infection or disease causes protein
The amount required may increase.
And some drugs can draw protein from your muscles, reducing muscle mass and strength if you don't get enough protein in your diet.
--- p.280

We tend to become accustomed to our own behavior and habits.
Even if they are not healthy, familiar behaviors and habits provide order and stability to our lives.
So most people are reluctant to change familiar behaviors.
Changing your diet can be difficult, but it's not impossible.
Most people underestimate their ability to change, but small behavioral changes can lead to huge changes in health.
Let me give you a simple example.
Many people replace whole milk (regular milk) with skim milk.
They may have gradually reduced their milk intake or changed it drastically all at once.
Somehow they achieved a change they thought was impossible.
Skim milk may taste bland at first, but once you get used to the taste, whole milk actually tastes too rich and thick.
It's a small change, but assuming you drink two glasses of milk a day, simply replacing whole milk with skim milk could lead to a weight loss of about 6 kilograms a year.

--- p.387