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Quality of life for longevity
BY JOAQUIN ORAMAS
THE
subject of longevity has been of great interest
throughout the ages and even more so today when,
scientifically, it is known that human beings posses
the biological capacity to live much longer than
they do, according to Dr. Concepción Campa, an
eminent Cuban scientist renowned for her research
work and particularly for creating the
anti-meningitis vaccine.
Our
interviewee is a director at the Carlos J. Finlay
Institute, a center that provides modern research,
development and vaccine production facilities. The
center possesses an advanced scientific and
technological infrastructure capable of producing
100 million doses of diverse vaccines every year.
Analyzing the theory that men and women are able to
live to 120 years or more, Dr. Campa showed us
manuscripts written in 1899 by her paternal
great-grandfather, Spanish doctor José María Pérez
that, by sheer coincidence, came into her possession
some months ago. At that time, he was a doctor for
the Salinas beach community in Asturias, Spain and
wrote that the average life expectancy of the local
population was between 45-60 years old. However,
there were several cases of centenarians and amongst
the archives, certain death certificates attested to
the fact that some individuals had lived to 104.
According to the doctor’s notes, those individuals
had never been ill and had maintained their
faculties up to 24 hours before dying.
One
of Dr. José María Pérez’ reports revealed the case
of a woman who had died when she was over 104 years
of age, who could not recall her own name but who
was known in the area as the sister of Don Juan “The
Indian”, and who had never been sick. The elderly
lady still had her own teeth and mended her clothes
without needing glasses.
According to the doctor’s notes – read to us by Dr.
Campa – the elderly lady told our interviewee’s
great grandfather that when she felt ill she would
let him know. Two months later, Dr. Pérez received a
note, advising him: “Tell the doctor to come, as I
want to say goodbye to him so I may die.”
In
that respect, the doctor wrote: “I went that
afternoon and found my good friend propped up in
bed, smiling, with not a single complaint, save that
for some days her movements had been somewhat
restricted although she was still walking. And on
the morning of that day, she noticed that her arms
and legs did not obey her wish to rise. And for the
first time in her life she had no appetite for her
breakfast. In view of such a decline, without
feeling sick, she believed that she would soon die
and some hours later, quite suddenly, her strength
began to fail her.”
The
following day, Dr. José María Pérez issued the death
certificate for “The Indian”’s sister. Dr. Campa
revealed that reading the anecdote and the rest of
her great grandfather’s notes impressed her
tremendously as she believes that longevity is
something to which we should aspire.
“In
Asian culture, it has long been said and proved that
we should struggle for a wholesome longevity, with
quality of life, because longevity without quality
of life cannot possibly be termed as pleasant,” she
added.
Reflecting on the subject, she affirmed that we
cannot talk about longevity without focusing on many
different aspects of life, as supported by the
scientific concept of complexity; a concept that
establishes that every biological system is a
network within other networks in which multiple
factors play a part.
And
we cannot isolate one from another because they are
all interlinked. We cannot say that longevity can be
attained solely based on diet, exercise, adequate
medicine or emotional equilibrium. Only if we focus
on the individual in a complex and integral manner,
can we channel our aspirations to achieve longevity
with quality of life and that we should dream of
promoting, educating and fighting in order to attain
a long and fulfilling existence. In this sense, she
referred to a Chinese theory that affirms: in order
to live for many years, one should eat little, sleep
as long as necessary and laugh a lot.
In
some way, this refers to an adequate diet, emotional
equilibrium and, in terms of sleep, a balance with
nature as exemplified by the fact that animals have
hours for rest and activity. These creatures respect
those hours, they seem to function like clocks. For
example, birds know exactly what time to rise in the
mornings and exactly the hour to sleep. However,
humans have lost their natural habits; as a result,
the motto is: in order to have good quality of life,
respect for and equilibrium with the environment are
essential.
Dr. Campa concluded by saying that as humanity
distances itself from its natural relationship with
the environment, so it distances itself from its
corresponding longevity.
For more information:
redac2@granmai.cip.cu |
