Octogenarian

[Saul]

Dear ALL,

Today is my 80th birthday.  I continue to be in excellent health.  Several factors that I think are important for prolonged healthspan and (possibly) lifespan:

I've been practicing CR since April, 1996 (so about 23 years).  

I do vigorous aerobic exercise for half an hour or longer six days a week at my gym (in my case, on the latest Precor elliptical cross trainer with hand motion, at the maximum resistance and a fast speed).

I continue to be fully employed at the University of Rochester as a Professor of Mathematics (a position that I've held since 1974):  I'm the oldest member of the Math Department.  I teach two courses every term (both in the Fall and Spring -- I'm off for the Summers).  I enjoy the teaching, and attending seminars and colloquia.

Here is a recent health assessment from my Endocrinologist:

(Note:  The weight is incorrect -- weight was taken after I'd eaten a huge breakfast of 1 pound of raw Nappa cabbage, and 64 ounces of carefully brewed Chinese white tea -- that's always my breakfast):

Wittlin, Steven D, MD at 5/7/2019 10:00 AM

Status: Signed

HPI: Saul Lubkin is a 79 y.o. male who presents for follow up of Osteoporosis. He now takes Forteo. . He denies any pain , fractures, muscle weakness or kidney stones. He continues on low calorie diet.   Patient's medications, allergies, past medical, surgical, social and family histories were reviewed and updated as appropriate.   ROS: CONSTITUTIONAL: Appetite good, no fevers, night sweats or weight loss HEENT: No double or blurry vision; denies severe headache CV: No chest pain, shortness of breath or peripheral edema RESPIRATORY: No cough, wheezing or dyspnea NEURO: No MS changes, no motor weakness, no sensory changes ENDO: No polyuria or polydipsia   PE: BP 110/60 | Pulse 71 | Ht 1.55 m (5' 1.02") | Wt 61.2 kg (135 lb) | BMI 25.49 kg/m² GENERAL APPEARANCE: well developed, well nourished, no acute distress; aware and alert HEENT: PERLA, EOMI, no lid lag, pink conjunctiva ; no proptosis NECK: supple, no thyromegaly, no lymphadenopathy HEART: RRR, normal S1, S2 CHEST: lungs clear to auscultation bilaterally, no spinal tenderness EXTREMITIES: no clubbing, cyanosis, or edema. Pedal pulses 2+ bilaterally. Both feet clean without deformity, callous, ulceration, or fungal infection. NEUROLOGICAL: Alert and oriented x 3. Normal DTRs SKIN: Orange color.     ASSESSMENT/PLAN: Forteo. Mr Lubkin will repeat his DXA . He continues to appear hypercarotenemic. Saul and I had a long discussion. As per usual he is on top of recent research in osteoporosis. He wants Forteo, acknowledging that we have no good data on its use for this long, that convention is that he should be using A bisphosphonate, and that he has had a very small decrease in BMD..   RTC one year with DXA

 

 

[Dean Pomerleau]

Saul,

Congratulations! Despite our disagreements over some minutiae, there is no denying that you are doing a lot important things right. Having a BMI around 25 is probably ideal at your age. Remaining so active and teaching at the college level at 80 is quite impressive. Kudos. Here's hoping you have many more years of successful life ahead of you!

--Dean

[mccoy]

That's a low carb chocolate cake!

[TomBAvoider]

Happy Birthday Saul!

You seem in excellent health. It's good to hear that you're still teaching math, and perhaps even doing math? Paul Erdos would refer to any mathematician who stopped doing math as "died" - and any who actually died as "left", but he himself lived till 83. 

If you want to assure longevity, you might want to switch your mathematical research to partial differential equations, as that seems to ensure a long life, which is what the Russian mathematician Sergey Nikolsky who lived to 107 did: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Nikolsky He was regularly lecturing at 92, and working at 100, so you still have a way to go, Saul, to beat that record. I expect you'll live much longer than to 107, considering that your diet/lifestyle must be much better than whatever poor Sergey Nikolsky managed, as long as you carefully choose your mathematical endeavors 🙂

 

[Saul]

Thanks!

My wife and I had part of a Japanese cheescake last night to celebrate.

 😁

[Mechanism]

Edited

[mccoy]

10 hours ago, TomBAvoider said:

but he himself lived till 83

Notwithstanding the use of amphetamynes, which might have had negative repercussion to his longevity (but not to the number of scientific papers he authored and co-authored). Maybe he might have lived longer, maybe not. 

[Ron Put]

Congratulations and happy birthday, Saul!

I don't know you, but you are an inspiration.

May we have a similar exchange in 30 years :)

[Gordo]

Happy birthday! 

And just curious, what's your BMI before breakfast? I thought you did CR? 😉

[Kenton]

Kudos, congrats, & H B 2 U S L, my friend!

[Saul]

Pleasure hearing from you, Kenton!

😊

  --  Saul

[Matt]

Belated happy birthday wishes Saul!! 

[Saul]

Thanks Matt!

 🙂

  --  Saul

[UserReqDel20200217]

How many calories do you eat now and before calorie restriction?

[Saul]

Good question.

I never monitored calories before going on CR -- it would have been better if I had.

My daily calories varies a lot from day to day -- usually between 1500 and 2000.  Very important is what you eat -- now, mostly raw vegetables, some cooked vegetables.  And some fish.  No dairy, very little grain, no land animals.

That's a rough summary.

And I track blood levels carefully -- e.g., IGF1 and IGFBP3 give some idea if protein is too high (or low -- not a problem for me).

Different people react differently to the same foods -- so I think that monitoring your bloodwork gives you information important beyond just number of calories, and percent carbs, fats and protein. 

   --  Saul

[UserReqDel20200217]

7 minutes ago, Saul said:

Good question.

I never monitored calories before going on CR -- it would have been better if I had.

My daily calories varies a lot from day to day -- usually between 1500 and 2000.  Very important is what you eat -- now, mostly raw vegetables, some cooked vegetables.  And some fish.  No dairy, very little grain, no land animals.

That's a rough summary.

And I track blood levels carefully -- e.g., IGF1 and IGFBP3 give some idea if protein is too high (or low -- not a problem for me).

Different people react differently to the same foods -- so I think that monitoring your bloodwork gives you information important beyond just number of calories, and percent carbs, fats and protein. 

   --  Saul

And what was your weight before calorie restriction?

[Saul]

More than 140 lbs.  Now it's averages about 128 lbs.  I weigh myself daily after doing my ablutions in the morning.

  --  Saul  

[UserReqDel20200217]

24 minutes ago, Saul said:

More than 140 lbs.  Now it's averages about 128 lbs.  I weigh myself daily after doing my ablutions in the morning.

  --  Saul  

And you already did exercises?

[Saul]

Sure:  Between 30min - 1 hour, 6 days per week, on the latest Matrix Elliptical cross trainer with hand motion, and a high resistance in the gym of the JCC of Rochester.   I've been a vigorous exerciser since 1960.  Exercise is really important.

  --  Saul