Life for a hundred years has always been a dream engraved in human DNA.
In the Xia Dynasty, our average life expectancy was only 18 years.
And by 1985, our average life expectancy of was 68.97 years, of which 66.96 years for men and 70.98 years for women [1].
At the same time, more and more people are going straight to 100 years old.
000, there were about 220,150 centenarians nationwide.
In 2010, there were about 482,040 centenarians nationwide, an increase of 111.8% in 10 years [3].
Little do you know how many "unknown secrets" are hidden behind this explosive growth. In order to live to the age of 100, humans can be said to do everything they can.
Swallow gold to seek longevity
The ancients created 24K pure gold elixir
Everyone knows that the ancients like to refine alchemy in order to seek immortality, and the two most commonly used ingredients for alchemy are gold and herbs.
During the ignorance of the ancients, they believed that gold was resistant to corrosion and lived longer than others. They must be a "fairy medicine".
" Records of the Grand Historian·Xiaowu's Records " records that Li Shaojun once advised Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty : The temple stove will bring things, and cinnabar can be turned into gold, and gold will be considered a diet utensil, which will bring life to [4].
It can be seen that gold is included in the earliest elixir recipes.
As expected, people cannot be too rich, otherwise they will easily cause trouble.
Later, there were examples of eating gold and losing their lives. The alchemists realized that this method was not feasible, so they said: Gold is very hot and has a great poison [4], it is hard to eat! This is why the method of swallowing gold and seeking immortality is withdrawn from the stage of history.
Bagua diagram to see Feng Shui
The colder the more you are, the more you resist aging?
The so-called food, clothing, housing and transportation, since you can’t eat, then you can just wait.
The ancients also had long studied Feng Shui and longevity, and even combined Bagua and longevity:
Figure: The difference between Bagua direction layout and longevity region
via: Reference materials 5
It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand it. Simply put, there are only three points [5]:
①The ancients believed that cold areas can make people live longer, so northerners live longer and southern people live short.
via: Reference 5
② Alpine terrain can make people live longer, mainly because it is colder at high places, which is the same as above.
③The ancients believed that places with sweet water can live longer.
via: Reference materials 5
So based on these three points, the longevity area in the minds of the ancients is: Northwest region.
Qingdao Plateau, Xinjiang, Qinghai are all longevity immortal places in the hearts of the ancients. People even believe that Qingdao Plateau has "the birth of divine objects and the gathering of saints" on Yaochi .
What is the fact?
These areas are indeed places where centenarians are "rich" and centenarians. According to demographic data, Tibet had the most centenarians in 1982, and ranked second in 1990, second only to Xinjiang and Qinghai.
via: Reference 5
In addition, Sichuan and the western part of Yunnan are also Changshou District. Legend has it that Sichuan's Qingcheng Mountain, Minshan , and Qionglai Mountain are all "rich" of the longevity immortals, that is, the current Ganzi and Aba .
The third census shows that in 1982, centenarians from Ganzi and Aba were indeed ranked first in all regions in Sichuan.
via: Reference 5
Even after the millennium, centenarians in Xinjiang, Tibet, Sichuan and other places account for a relatively high proportion of people over 65 [3].
via: Reference materials 6
Why does it make people live longer at high places?
Modern science explanation is that temperature can affect the human cell division rate, basal metabolic rate, and release of life energy, making people's sexual maturity and growth period slow down, so that the ultimate life span is also extended by [5].
Some scholars even proposed: If the human body temperature can be reduced by 2~3.5℃, the human life span will be increased from over 70s to 150 years old! Truly realize "age freezing"!
Sucking the blood of young people
can become younger?
In modern times, I thought people's way of seeking longevity could be more reliable, but...
956, Clive McCay, a biochemist at Cornell University, discovered that replacing mice with blood can achieve "rejuvenation", which opened the precedent for blood exchange and age reversal.
In 2005, a paper was also published in "nature", saying that after the blood exchange between the elderly mice and young mice, the muscle regeneration ability of the elderly mice improved and their physical functions became younger [6].
So, the rich began to "suck blood".
In early 2017, a biotech company called Ambrosia tried to restore people's youth through blood transfusions, charging $8,000 per person per time.
The key is that there are really people going to go, and the founder of PayPal is one of their customers.
However, this "therapeutic" that did not pass clinical experiments was considered to be a hidden danger by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and finally ended up closing down.
This also reminds some scientists that longevity research should be based on clinical experiments.
elixir for the rich
also does not have a clinical experiment-based longevity method, and there is also the "elixir for immortality" NMN.
In 2013, David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard University, discovered that a component called NMN (β-nicotinamide single nucleotide) can increase the NAD+ content in the body [7].
ps: This coenzyme called NAD+ plays an important role in maintaining the stability of mitochondrial , which means that aging can be reversed.
even rich Li Ka-shing , Soho real estate developer Pan Shiyi all ended up ending with NMN.
However, since NMN is just an experiment on mice and has not been tested by a large number of people, it is listed as a dietary supplement in the United States and is banned from selling in China.
"Longevity Gene" that violates ethics
1983, scientific researchers screened nematode for longevity mutations and found a mutant gene that can increase the lifespan of nematodes by 50% - age-1 [8,9].
and similar homologous genes are also effective in fruit flies and mice, but the increase in life span is not as significant as that in nematodes.
So people want to put longevity gene in their bodies, and use gene therapy drugs to make people "rejuvenate".
However, gene therapy still has many risks and problems, such as genetic diseases, immunotoxicity, etc., which will affect offspring. Ordinary people should not try it.
So after looking at it comprehensively, it seems that only the ancient Feng Shui Bagua diagram won? Is it really impossible for humans to control their lifespan?
The secret to human beings living to 100 years old
What exactly is it?
①From the macro perspective, the secret to human beings living to 100 years old lies in peace and medical progress.
To this day, the average life expectancy of people in South Africa and some war-torn countries is still around 50 years old.
In Xia Dynasty , our average life expectancy is 18 years [1,2].
Even before liberation, our average life expectancy was only about 30 years [9].
via: Reference 9
Around 930, infectious diseases such as plague , smallpox, cholera , scarlet fever , etc. caused 22.92% of the deaths in major cities in China [9].
In modern times, the discovery of antibiotic , the use of vaccines, and the establishment of public health systems have quickly extended the average life expectancy of humans.
We can even extend our lives by changing our organs.
If we are willing to repair the body machine at any cost, we may even achieve "eternal life".
②Femalely, the secret to living to 100 years old lies in the individual's prevention of diseases.
From the 1960s, the factors that affect my country's average life expectancy have changed from an infectious disease to a degenerative disease in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease [10].
019, 2 of every 5 deaths in the country died of cardiovascular disease [11]
In other words, the aging of the organs has become our natural enemy.
What we humans can do is not to reverse the aging of organs (after all, most aging is irreversible), but not to harm our organs and do not accelerate the aging process.
In terms of concreteness, it is what we call "correct nonsense": don't smoke, don't drink, stay up late less, and exercise more.
The most natural secret to longevity is right in front of us, but most people choose to turn a blind eye.
Perhaps, one day in the future, we can really rely on external forces to extend our life.
But we still need to pursue the quality of life, live happily and meaningfully.
Give life time, and also to give time life.
If the life span is only increased, but after we are over forty or fifty years old, we are still dragging the residual limbs and bad bodies, and we are in harmony with the disease. The subsequent life is completely maintained by modern medical technology, is that really meaningful?
If we can really live to the age of 100, can we take care of ourselves and have dignity?
If we can live to the age of 100, will every elderly person be happy and have no illness?
If we can live to the age of 100, can we decide life and death and choose a good ending?
If you can really live to 100 years old, would you be willing to live to that time?
Special reminder: The content of this issue has been reviewed by professional doctors.The above popular science content is only for experience exchange. Considering individual differences, if you feel uncomfortable, you can consult a professional doctor online; if you have acute illness, please go to the offline hospital for treatment immediately!
Reference
[1]Lin Wanxiao. Average life expectancy and life expectancy of people in my country throughout the ages[J]. Life and Disasters, 1996, 000(005):27-27.
[2] Liu Lan. Questions on "lifespan and per capita grain possession in ancient China" [J]. Population Research, 2002(02):70-72.
[3] Fan Xinmin. Research on the longevity population of China's sixth census [J]. Journal of Population Science, 2013, 35(04):14-20.
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