Story by Brooke Elliott
Graphic by Olivia Goodson
Photos courtesy of Ruth Roycroft
If you asked a stranger to guess how old twins Ruth Roycroft and Nancy Sturgill turned in November, they’d probably underestimate their age by a decade or more.
Ruth Roycroft, one of the twin birthday girls, spent her celebration enjoying her cake and walking around her party to greet her guests — friends, family and neighbors from Durham, N.C. included. She’s a sociable woman who wore a bright, jewel-toned jacket, and during the party she took a moment to pose in front of the pink-and-white decorations for a photo.
The shiny, number-shaped balloons behind her read 97, and they were correctly placed; quick-witted and physically-active Roycroft is only 3 years from being a centenarian, and she shows no signs of slowing down.
“Well, my primary doctor told me two weeks ago I was going to live to be 107,” Roycroft said. “I said, ‘Oh my gosh!’”
Roycroft and her twin, Nancy Sturgill, are part of a rare and enviable group of people called super-agers. The pop science term describes people over the age of 80 whose cognitive and physical capabilities match those of people decades younger, and scientists across the world want to know what factors make super-agers so resilient.
Some scholars believe that becoming a super-ager boils down to what you eat and how often you exercise. Other studies suggest it’s about the physical structure of an individual’s gray matter, or the number of activities they pursue in a day. Ask Roycroft herself, and she has a simple theory to explain her good fortune.
“Well, I tried to give my doctor credit for it,” she said. “And he said, ‘Oh no, it’s your genes.’”
It’s a good hypothesis, but according to John Batsis, MD, a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, genetics are just one part of the super-ager equation. They aren’t the only factor that determines whether someone will remain mentally and physically healthy as they age.
Diet, exercise, care, and more also play critical roles in the way in which an individual ages. Batsis said people with genetics that heavily predispose them to common issues that accompany aging, such as chronic pain, Alzheimer’s or cancer, can keep themselves in good shape past 90.
“Diet and exercise can actually modify one’s genes and genetic makeup,” said Batsis, who develops interventions to help people stay healthy as they age. “If your genetics predispose you to a given risk, you could potentially reduce that risk; we can alter that trajectory or alter the risk of developing it at a certain age. It may kick the can down the road. Even if it’s just a little bit, that makes a huge difference in your quality of life and physical function.”
Super-agers themselves also have a number of competing theories about which of their habits or traits keeps them healthy and active. WWII historian Ken Samuelson is a perfect example of a cognitive and physical super-ager; at age 93, his frequent daily activities include tennis, exercise at the gym, healthy meals, and outings with his family members.
But over all else, he thinks that the variation in his life — the lack of “routine” in his daily routine — keeps his mind sharp and prevents him from slowing down.
“That’s part of the reason I’ve lasted as long as I have — I guess I’ve always got something to do every day, and today was no different,” Samuelson said. “I’ve always got a project. In fact, I gave a program yesterday at the Seymour Senior Center on the golden age of radio.”
On the day of his interview, Samuelson ate his favorite breakfast (yogurt and blueberries), went to church to see his friends of all ages, played tennis, completed household chores, prepared for the trip he would take to Pennsylvania the next morning, and went out to dinner with his son Alan. As a retired nonagenarian, his daily schedule is often busier than that of a working young adult’s, and it doesn’t tire him out; it makes him feel young.
Batsis said this variety is another critical component in the super-ager formula. He said that Samuelson, by varying his daily routine, is avoiding a common problem many older Americans face: the slump into a sedentary, inactive, isolated lifestyle.
“If you don’t leave the house, you’re not as engaged in activities,” Batsis said. “You don’t get out, you don’t move, you don’t walk, you sit down, you become a little bit more physically inactive, and you start that vicious cycle.”
That “vicious cycle” has affected many of Roycroft’s friends, physically or mentally. While reflecting on the experiences that made her come to the conclusion that her good fortune was genetic, she recalled seeing many otherwise-healthy friends experience the pain and cognitive decline most Americans associate with age. One of her close friends from church, whom she has known for decades, is being moved to new housing so that she can be treated for worsening symptoms of dementia.
Samuelson believes that part of his good health actually comes from his adaptability, which allows him to process the grief of losing friends and loved ones and turn it into productive energy. His strategy is to remember those he loved, but to keep looking forward and experiencing new things.
“Once you have so many memories, they kind of overflow sometimes,” he said. “In fact, this evening, I was thinking about a good friend of mine from about 30 or 40 years ago. I knew his daughter when she was a young girl. Sometime in the next few days, I’m gonna try and give her a call and just say, ‘Hey, I knew your dad, and I loved your dad.’”
Samuelson is more involved with his community — friends, peers, and neighbors — than most Americans. So is Roycroft, who sings in her church choir, completes thousand-piece puzzles with her friends, plays sports, and takes trips across North Carolina with her family members. This level of engagement is rare in America, a country Batsis calls “dispersed”; individuals move away from their families and friends over time, becoming more isolated and losing their support networks.
There are specific, widely studied locations around the world where people maintain strong connections with their families and friends well into their twilight years. They include Loma Linda, California in the United States; other locations include a province of Sardinia in Italy, Okinawa in Japan, and the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. People in these “Blue Zones” also have much longer life expectancies than the average American, and super-agers are the norm rather than the exception.
“There’s one in Greece, there’s one in Italy, one in Japan; the average age of death is in the late 90s or hundreds,” Batsis said. “These areas have excellent support systems and social networks. We often focus on the medical aspects of our life, but for these individuals, it’s about the community.”
Jack Eaton of Raleigh, N.C., another super-ager, has a strong connection to his family network. He travels, writes, and adds to his growing collection of eclectic souvenirs, but he always has a strong support system to return to when all is said and done. His family lives mostly in North Carolina, some as close as five minutes away; those who don’t make sure that they visit Jack and his wife, Mabel. When asked about his longevity, Eaton says that he feels blessed by God.
“It’s an incredibly rich life,” he said. “I mean, how many people can say they have ten great grandchildren they’ve gotten to meet?”
The care and attention of a loving family doesn’t just have emotional benefits; these kinds of long-lasting, attentive families are bulwarks against cognitive and physical decline.
Batsis noted that they recognize critical problems in aging family members early when they have enough time to address and mitigate them — unlike clinicians, who often only see their older patients when a problem has become so severe that it can no longer be addressed.
“The challenge with clinicians is they’re seeing the patient in snapshots. Very often, it’s what we call collateral history,” he said. “It’s really the caregivers, the family that’s noticing when with their loved ones, something is different.”
Spending time with the people you love is a bulwark against cognitive and physical decline, and these super-agers have plenty of love in their lives. Eaton says that his happiest memories are his wedding and watching his children grow up. Samuelson and Roycroft both cherish their time with their children, who visit them for dinner and outings every week. Samuelson is so sure that his time with his family keeps him healthy that he attributed his long-term wellbeing, at least in part, to the support of his sons and grandchildren.
“There are multiple factors, but I would have to say the thing that overall, the overarching thing is love,” he said. “Love of God, love of your fellow man, love of your wife, love of your children, all those things that relate to love. Love is the overarching attribute.”
