A theoretical way to lengthen your life

This is leaning closer to a question then an answer. I been thinking in a probability type of way how someone could lengthen their life span through the examples of numerous other animals that we can easily see in our every day lives. Ill state again that im not trying to prove a point, but merely looking for answers to see if my logic is actually leading me to somewhere good, so feel free to prove me completely wrong (but with details).

I recently got a new job that requires me to work hours from around 10pm to 6am for 6 days a week. I've obviously changed my sleeping schedule around to make this work out well. And I've noticed that ive been sleeping for a lot longer then usually (i usually sleep 8 hours on the dot naturally). I've been sleeping for 10-13 hours a day! that's 2-5 hours more than usual.

I also have a nice little ability to slow down my heart rate to the extremes and even stop it for a beat or two on command. I don't have any heart problems and i am well above average for health and activity.

Now on to my animals. I tend to work with many different types of reptiles and small mammals (usually feeder mammals [rodents]). And i've noticed that a lot of the reptiles that tend to live longer (snakes, tortoises, turtles, uromastyx's and so on) are all fairly calm, slow and sleep mass amounts of the time (or do not move that much). This sleeping and slow movements makes a slower heart rate. The size generally doesnt matter too much, although extensively larger animals (like a boa constrictor [9ft-13ft] vs a corn snake [4.5ft-6ft]) tend to live somewhat longer than the smaller ones. all the very fast and agile reptiles like most geckos and anoles (and more) are generally very small and have shorter life spans than other animals.

So i was wondering... Is it possible to lengthen your own life span with less stress, more sleep and a slower heart rate?

reply to post by Ghost147


I would think so, stress, lack of sleep, and a weak heart definitely contribue to the general breakdown of the body.

I've heard that people who sleep 5-6 hours a night live longer than people who sleep 8 or more. Don't know if it's true, but remember hearing this a few years ago.

Everyone stresses. It's part of life. I think if you overload your system with stress it will start to breakdown. Basically, if you can handle the stress without generating a disease, then I don't think it'll lessen your lifespan.

Originally posted by unityemissions
I've heard that people who sleep 5-6 hours a night live longer than people who sleep 8 or more. Don't know if it's true, but remember hearing this a few years ago.

by who? can you post your sources?

Here ya go: Link

Actually it says that people who sleep 6-7 hours live longer than those who sleep 8+ or less than 4 hours.

damn that sucks, guess i cant relate sleep to long life through reptiles. what about heart rate though?

Heart rate is tied into the sympathetic nervous system. All things being equal, the more energy your body requires, the faster your heart will beat. This can come about through anxiety, physical stress, intense mental functioning, whatever. When the SNS is stimulated a number of things change besides the heartbeat. The blood vessels constrict, blood pressure is raised, which over time could lead to serious illness.

I do know that having a lower resting heartbeat is generally a sign of greater physical health, but sometimes can indicate disease. Being able to lower your heartbeat drastically at will may seem like a useful skill, but you might actually be doing unknown damage. I'm not a doctor so perhaps someone else can clear this up?

[edit on 7-12-2008 by unityemissions]

reply to post by Ghost147

in some cases depression and stress make you live longer. sounds odd i know but there is basis for this. There is a little place over near Italy where this one little place changes borders constantly due to ongoing wars. the people there are in a constant state of fear, and depression. they don't expect much out of life at all, and that is why researchers believe that they are living well past 100 years. it's not uncommon at all to see a man of 105 WALKING TO WORK everyday. i read about this in TIME magazine, i will be searching the origional article. If i could only remember the name of that country. It started with a C, but i don't know more than that right now, but i will find it.

Originally posted by unityemissions
I do know that having a lower resting heartbeat is generally a sign of greater physical health, but sometimes can indicate disease. Being able to lower your heartbeat drastically at will may seem like a useful skill, but you might actually be doing unknown damage. I'm not a doctor so perhaps someone else can clear this up?

[edit on 7-12-2008 by unityemissions]

Yeah thats why i dont do it much. thanks for the info!

Did you know that humans were built to sleep with a pause in between resting periods? What I mean is, cavemen used to wake up after midnight, do some things, then continue to sleep untill morning.

Sleep in segments. If you sleep in one consolidated block at night, you have one guy to thank: Thomas Edison. Our paleolithic ancestors most likely had a more fluid sleeping pattern. Artificial lighting seems to have forced us to sleep in one 8-hour block each night, while our bodies are naturally wired to sleeping in two or three blocks each day.

Modern research and studies of pre-industrial diaries suggest that humans are built to wake up in the middle of the night for 1-3 hours, splitting the nocturnal slumber into two blocks. Daytime naps are also wired into our genes. Hunter-gatherer

from

Sleepwarrior

I would focus more on lowering body temperature, lowering stress and decreasing sleep.

If you want to prolong your life you could try caloric restriction. Animals on a restricted calorie diet have demonstrated lifespans that are increased by as much as 300% in the laboratory. Unfortunately, it also causes depression and irritability. So would you rather live longer while starving yourself everyday, or eat the right foods and live a healthier life.

-Dev