Our focus continues into the fascinating lives of our Mature Learning instructors. Pat Jollota, whose class “Clark County History” begins in May 18th, says, “I became interested in history while I watched my native city of Los Angeles destroy its history in the name of progress. Those cities that maintained their history fared better than did LA.” I asked Pat how she gets her ideas for her books, and she replied, “The ideas are often happenstance. “Naming Clark County”, for instance, arose out of an exhibit that I did for Clark County. Many times long cherished beliefs are exploded by the facts. I used to say that part of my job was to crush long held family stories.”
To a query about how she does research, Pat declared, “The ideas just happen with the subject matter. If there is a story that needs to be told, that’s the idea. Research has become so much easier with our wonderful new library. Instead of the migraine inducing microfilm readers, they now have computer monitors that will even print out the article that you want to keep. Finding out that long held beliefs are wrong is part of research. One such is that Ranald McDonald, who helped open up Japan to the west met and studied with the three Japanese sailors at the Fort. Recent research casts major doubt on that timeline. When suddenly everything comes together and the missing pieces fill in, it’s a rush!”

Instructor Duane Ray is our “Science Guy”. This term he continues a quest for the “Edges of Science", helping students to understand the complexities of modern scientific discoveries. Duane possesses an amazing combination of brilliance and enthusiasm. Duane said, “I always loved hands on science. In high school I was an amateur radio operator.” During his college years he spent one summer as an astronomer. His other lifelong passion became the outdoor life, hiking, climbing and SCUBA. A professional physicist, when asked what was the most exciting finding of the 21st century, Duane replied, “Understanding the fundamental physics of particles”. And what might be the most exciting find of the future? Duane readily opined, “I predict we will continue the amazing new discoveries in biological medicine, understanding DNA & epigenetics”.

In a fascinating new study from New York’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, it was found that people who live to 95 or older are no more virtuous than the rest of us in terms of their diet, exercise routine or smoking and drinking habits. This is due to the presence of “longevity genes”, a helpmate long suspected by both scientists and casual observers.
Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine interviewed 477 persons aged 95 and older, all living independently, to seek to understand why centenarians live as long as they do.The elderly subjects were asked to describe their lifestyles at age 70, to determine what kind of healthy or what kinds of higher risk lifestyles they had lived during their lives. Answering questions about their weight and height so that their body mass index (BMI) could be calculated, they also provided information about their alcohol consumption, smoking habits, physical activity, and whether they ate a low-calorie, low-fat or low-salt diet. These answers were compared to 3,164 people born around the same time who were examined between 1971 and 1975 while participating in a highly regarded national health survey.
Overall, people with exceptional longevity did not have healthier habits than the comparison group in terms of BMI, smoking, physical activity, or diet. Researchers also asked study participants why they believed they had lived so long. One-third reported a history of family longevity.
Nir Barzilai, M.D., director of the Institute for Aging Research at Einstein, noted that while the healthier centenarians did also have known health related factors like higher than average HDL (“good cholesterol”), that "This study suggests that centenarians may possess additional longevity genes that help to buffer them against the harmful effects of an unhealthy lifestyle."
Does this study indicate that we can throw up our hands and forget about hard to maintain optimum health habits? Sorry! The 425,000 people aged 95 and older living in the U.S. in 2010 – represent only .01% of the 40 million U.S. adults 65 and over. And, living a healthy lifestyle in addition to just surviving confers greater vitality and reduces suffering from physical pain as one ages, not a small consideration.
Wish you could socialize with interesting people who like to talk about studies and what they mean? Check out the Mature Learning program – keep that lifestyle going with fitness classes and exercise your mind with Afternoon Academics!