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THE
SCIENCE
OF A
LONG LIFE
% \ ye
DR. VALENTIN FUSTER
JOSEP CORBELLA
ITH A FOREWORD BY RAFAEL NADAL AND PAU GASOL

ADVANCE PRAISE
“The Science of a Long Life affirms not only knowledge Dr.
Fuster has about the human body and aging but also his
compassion and practicality for all of us. I would do whatever
he tells me to do in this book to live a long and healthy life.”
BOB HARPER, HOST OF THE BIGGEST
LOSER AND BEST-SELLING AUTHOR
“When I first met Dr. Valentin Fuster, it was to interview him
about a study he had just published using beta-blockers in a
way that had previously been thought to be contraindicated
in heart failure. That was my first exposure to Valentin Fus-
ter’s approach to medicine: challenge the status quo, question
conventional thinking, and demand evidence. That tactic
has enabled Dr. Fuster to advance the science of cardiology
in ways that have saved countless lives. Now he is applying
it to something we are all interested in: living a longer and
healthier life.

Asa medical journalist for nearly four decades, I have had the
privilege of observing and reporting on breathtaking advances
in medicine. But it is the last few years that have brought us to
what former vice-president Joseph Biden called an inflection
point in medicine’s ability to treat and even cure many of
humankind’s most difficult afflictions.
It is those scientific developments that are being applied to
the field of antiaging that Dr. Fuster and Josep Corbella so
clearly and engagingly describe in this book. Yes, we should
all have reason to believe that age truly is just anumber. From
genetics and antiaging molecules to stem cells, exercise, sex,
and wrinkles, The Science of a Long Life gives us the guide
we need to expand our life span and, more importantly, our
health span. Thank you, Valentin. I feel younger already!”
DR. MAX GOMEZ, WCBS MEDICAL REPORTER
“To have been asked to comment on my dear friend Dr. Val-
entin Fuster’s The Science of a Long Life is not only an honor
for me but also a great opportunity to share some ideas that I
firmly believe in: a strict discipline, a strong will, perseverance,
enthusiasm, and a positive mind. My motto has always been,
“If rest, I rust.” These are not simply words; they are facts.
My most sincere congratulations to Dr. Fuster for this book
and for the gift that it represents when a man of his knowledge
tells us that “to surrender is not an option.”
PLACIDO DOMINGO, SINGER, CONDUCTOR,
ELI AND EDYTHE BROAD GENERAL
DIRECTOR OF LOS ANGELES OPERA

“Dr. Valentin Fuster has worked for decades to create sub-
stantial and enduring bonds with scientists and health
organizations around the world to address disparities that
exist in cardiovascular disease risk factors, awareness, and
life expectancy. Dr. Fuster’s tireless and steadfast dedication
to science has significantly advanced research discoveries and
clinical care internationally.”
NANCY BROWN, CEO, AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION
“Valentin Fuster is one of the most accomplished physicians
in the world. He is a man of high character and a role model
for generations of physicians and scientists. There is no one
better to guide us toward a long life of achievement and joy.”
DR. DENNIS S. CHARNEY, ANNE AND JOEL EHRENKRANZ
DEAN, ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI

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THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

Digitized by the Internet Archive
In 2022 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/ison_9781544501031

THE
SCIENCE
OF A
LONG LIFE
LER RPL
OD COUNSEL
SANKATO, MINN. 56001
DR. VALENTIN FUSTER
JOSEP CORBELLA

HEARTS OF OUR CHILDREN, LLC
COPYRIGHT © 2018 VALENTIN FUSTER & JOSEP CORBELLA
All rights reserved.
THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE
The Art of Living More and the Science of Living Better
ISBN 978-1-5445-0103-1 Paperback
978-1-5445-0102-4 Ebook

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CONTENTS
ROREWORU EY RACRELINADAL 5 icles ij os cccd ben vascouesseies 13
BU Ce MRD he PAU! GAS IM oye secccnccaes rela hone ieix sae cctucdcacsnnesed iW
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BUH ACE ANE Sa GURY E seesssoceecotoriatotrecs csp cogesesPossatesawostces 135
11. FROM PYRAMIDS TO SKYSCRAPERS ....0.. eee eeeeeeeeneeeeee 153
i2e THE REE OR LIRE aieens bee See eee eee descend, 167
13. NEVER TOO LATE FOR HEALTHY WORKOUTS... 177
Te BRAD LENE SS esses cat cacao esienzea eon tancca ae cap b onnastehisens 193
DRE OM SM MLN isi cte cdi wrscxesrncousencentalesipensxysscantintieese iam 209
Die eee MOA cc texne poets aag noice actin i Cincessadiadedses crises 223
PRs CAVA WVE CUR WE LOIN ice oo aiecanrace ustons -sizcarmauaieipscoanne ts 239
18. ANTIOXIDANTS AND FREE RADICALS 0.00... ee eeeeeeeeeee 257
Pe UR Le i atedecentrnekeneivensnranceanrtafonsaaenduncberrendonetriccsd 271
ZO AMOTIVATION:-DIVINE TREASURE......2:..0205-000scccsescerssscascases 287
21. HOW LONG DO'WE WANE TO EIVE?, 0000.0 cccsetescecseccensseceens 305
TWENTY BASIC TIPS FOR ENJOYING A LONG LIFE.............. 315
ADDITIONAL READING FOR A LONG LIFE...........ccccscceseeees 323
ABCUPIHEAUTHORS © sec Riiks i ARR ceaeatieate 335

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FOREWORD BY
RAFAEL NADAL
Dispelling your doubts, time and again.
For those of us who have been playing professional sports
for a long time, we always have to continue to dispel the
rumors about our retirement. Not many people expected
to see me competing at “my” level after I turned thirty.
Not a very ancient age for a sport such as tennis, although
it has to be said that I’ve been a professional since 2001—
by coincidence the year when Pau made his debut in the
NBA—and since 2003 in the Top 100.
Throughout my career, some predicted that I wouldn't
last long—that I wouldn’t even play for ten years. Sport-
ing longevity for someone who had started young is a
prize. We age quicker because we expose our bodies to
FOREWORD BY RAFAEL NADAL -: 13

the highest possible level of physical demands to yield
spectacular results.
We athletes are extreme cases of willpower and perse-
verance. Pau is an excellent example of this. We’re both
very strict and disciplined. But I think that everyone, even
those without extraordinary physical aptitude, can lead
a healthy life for many years.
Valentin Fuster and Josep Corbella show us in their book
that the mental dimension is as important as the physical
aspect of slowing down the process of aging. Without
willpower, your body won't obey you. And without the
body’s cooperation, it’s time to take a break, recover, and
check if the willpower and enthusiasm are still there. Are
they? Let’s go. Let’s give it our all once more. Return and
return, and win and win.
Each individual has their own way of facing the passage of
time. I need rhythm, demands, hard training. This gives
me the confidence to compete in tournaments. I know
perfectly well what’s good and bad for me. I think I know
the secret to a long sporting life, and that if I feel well and
happy, this will help me have a long life outside of sports.
Many people think that we live obsessed with our sport.
And while it’s true that sometimes it can reach that level,
it’s not always the case. Sporting life, no matter how
14 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

intense and exceptional it is, isn’t your entire life. I have
no idea when Ill retire. I haven’t got any specific plans. I
think most of us don’t think about these things until the
decision is made. We athletes are “old young people,”
facing situations and decisions that usually come much
later in life for most people. When I stop having fun play-
ing, I'll do other things that excite me, such as my Tennis
Academy that is already operational.
Finding your purpose and happiness in life is nearly every-
thing you need. That’s what Fuster and Corbella write
about. This helps your odds for having a long life. Dr.
Fuster, at seventy-four, preaches his own example. He’s
more active than ever. His lust for life is contagious. His
example inspires us. I recommend following him and
reading what he has to say.
FOREWORD BY RAFAEL NADAL « 15

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FOREWORD BY
PAU GASOL
Age is just a number.
This is how Valentin Fuster and Josep Corbella start this
magnificent book. And basketball is a sport of numbers,
statistics, averages, and records. In this sea of data, age
always tends to stick out. Due to the requirement level
of the NBA—the frequency of the games, their intensity,
game minutes, constant travel, the competition—the
time players spend in the league is usually shorter than
in other sports. Players who are still playing at forty are
rare exceptions. In fact, only three are still active in the
2017/2018 season, and only twenty players are over thirty-
five. Some are called “grandads.”
This is the destiny of professional athletes: promise before
FOREWORD BY PAU GASOL : 17

twenty, maturity around the age of thirty, and “grandad”
at forty. Age is no more than a perception.
In this book you are about to read, full of wisdom based
on scientific studies, you will learn different factors that
will help you lead a better-quality life.
Milestones are measured according to age. All too often,
we see Statistics related to the duration of your life. By
late 2017, I had become the first player over thirty-seven
to score at least fourteen points, ten rebounds, and five
assists in four games in a row. Numbers, data adorning
a service page—but just accessories if by the end of the
fourth quarter your team hasn’t won the game. The titles
trumpeted that this was “despite my age” and that I was
going through a “second youth.”
At thirty-seven and with over 40,000 minutes of play in
seventeen seasons, I’m the ninth most senior player of
the league. According to NBA average statistics, I should
have retired a few years ago. But here I am, still. With the
years comes the benefit of experience and an intimate
knowledge of your own capabilities, so that your highs
are never too high, and your lows are never too low.
Yes, Fuster and Corbella are right: age is just a number
if you frame it that way for yourself. Aging isn’t a prob-
lem. For me, one of the key takeaways from the book that
18 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

speaks to me most is the concept of “ikigai.” For those
of you who don’t know it, I will leave for you to discover
further on.
We professional athletes age faster. Rafa and I know this
well. Our organisms are subjected to blows and pressures—
constant changes that wear us down much quicker than
others. Our joints are subjected to repeated movements
involving great forces and loads, because repetition is the
only way of achieving excellence: one shot, a step back,
a free throw...Your body suffers, the recovery process
becomes longer, and as you age, you need more time,
more discipline, and—it also has to be said—more sacri-
fice. Add to this tally the injuries, the months of recovery,
and the preparations, and without specific treatments
and preparations, no professional could hope to play ten,
fifteen, or twenty years.
One of the secrets of a long life in sports is the work you
do to strengthen yourself and prevent injuries—something
I’ve focused a lot on with my medical team. But obviously
injuries happen, and you need the mental and emotional
capability to overcome these bumps in the road, together
with the willpower and drive necessary to return to the
point you were at before, or even better. On this subject,
Rafael Nadal has a long track record of fantastic returns.
Naturally, this is my profession and my passion. I’m
FOREWORD BY PAU GASOL - 19

dedicated to it in the literal sense of the word. I’ve fully
accepted the effort and pain that go with it, and I have no
regrets—quite the contrary. Taking care of myself is not
an option; it’s a professional obligation to keep perform-
ing at my level. My best investment has been in myself,
keeping up my performance level, thanks to the incredible
professionals who have helped me and continue to do so.
Longevity fascinates us because it holds secrets—whether
it’s a person at one hundred years of age or a professional
athlete about to turn forty or playing for over fifteen years.
This book has compiled the secrets that are within any-
one’s reach. They don’t entail large investments, but
they do require willpower and a strong conviction. These
secrets are revealed by two top athletes.
Valentin Fuster, whom I know better out of the two, is a
close friend of mine. He knows and understands athletes
well. We have many things in common. A deep-seated love
for sports, to name just one thing. Perhaps many of you
didn’t know that Dr. Fuster climbs the Col du Tourmalet
every year and that, when he was a teenager, he wanted
to be a professional tennis player.
We also share a passion for medicine: if I hadn’t become
a professional basketball player, I’d have continued my
medical studies at the Bellvitge Campus of the University
of Barcelona and, knowing me, today I'd be proud to be
20 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

a good doctor. Dr. Fuster doesn’t only work in medicine,
but he makes it into something friendly, as well. His work
isn’t as flamboyant as that of an athlete. There are no
cameras filming and no journalists at the exit from the
operating room asking his opinion about the operation.
Nevertheless, without trying to compare professions, I
can’t think of a more valuable and transcendent career
than that of saving and/or prolonging life.
We share common roots—Catalan and Spanish—and the
fact we both started an American adventure, and both
living our professional dream. We also have a grand goal in
common: we want to have a real impact on people’s lives.
Well aware of this, we ve decided to work together, sharing
health habits that prevent child obesity and cardiovascu-
lar disease—two illnesses with much in common. We’ve
joined forces, together with our foundations, and we’re
both trying to contribute the best from our specialties: his
experience in health care and my sporting track record.
I’m sure that, with this book, readers will endorse some
habits and knowledge that will bring them long-term
benefits, if applied correctly. There are many to choose
from—check them out. The science of a long life can be
put to practice regardless of your age. Here, we give you
the blueprint. All you need to do is follow the steps. And
take ownership of your goals.
FOREWORD BY PAU GASOL : 21

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AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
WE CAN’T CHANGE OUR
CHRONOLOGICAL AGE, BUT WE CAN
CHANGE OUR BIOLOGICAL AGE
It’s one of the most common questions between people
who have just met. Adults ask it when they want to initiate
a conversation with a child. Airlines ask it when selling
tickets online. Insurance companies, when we buy an
insurance policy. A doctor, when seeing his patient for
the first time.
The first question is usually the name, and then comes age.
If it is such acommon question, it is because it provides
useful information. Twenty-four years old? Too young
to run the company. Sixty-five years old? Too old for new
ideas. Thirty-eight years old? Could be my girlfriend!
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER -: 23

If one stops to think about why this small bit of information
is so useful, it is because our brain prefers simplicity. We
like to think we have been graced with the most complex
organ in the universe, that we are intelligent creatures—so
much so that we have not hesitated to call ourselves Homo
sapiens (which, by the way, 1s a self-description). However,
if we are being honest, we must admit that complexity
makes us uncomfortable. We are not as sapiens as we
would like to think; we try to simplify things when given
the chance; and we fall into the temptation of generalizing.
This has its advantages. Dividing the world, and the rest
of humanity, into categories allows us to make quick deci-
sions that most times are accurate. Consider a doctor, for
example. If you are a woman over fifty, a mammogram is
recommended. If your blood pressure is higher than 140,
it is classified as hypertension. If you weigh 264 pounds
and are 5’6” tall, you will be classified as obese. Doctors
are not the only ones to do it, of course. We all do it. Ifa
student gets nothing but top marks in math, we label him
or her as intelligent. If they get nothing but low marks, we
may not say anything, but inwardly, we label them as well.
We divide the world into boxes, each with its appropriate
label, and that makes our life easier.
But this very human habit of labeling everything has its
drawbacks. Is a twenty-four-year-old person too young
to run a company? Look at Mark Zuckerberg, who had
24 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

already founded Facebook by the age of twenty. A sixty-
five-year-old man can no longer learn new ideas? Picasso
continued to paint and experiment well into his nineties.
And let us not forget Pope Francis, who is revolutionizing
the Catholic Church after having been elected at the age
of seventy-six.
Zuckerberg, Picasso, and the Pope are exceptional cases,
but the tendency to generalize affects us all. It is a very
common practice that can make us fall back on prejudices
and make mistakes. Not so long ago in Europe and North
America, black people were regarded to be of inferior
intelligence to whites. Women were considered unfit to
vote, or more recently, were considered less able than
men at math. There are some who still think that way,
and they are wrong.
Today, we know that such discriminations have no scien-
tific basis and are the result of prejudice and ignorance.
But they do invite us to ask ourselves which stereotypes we
have today that we unquestioningly accept as normal (such
as when it was considered normal to consider women unfit
to vote), will be judged unfounded and unfair in the future.
AGE 1S JUST A NUMBER = 25

ea es See
IS A TWENTY-FOUR-YEAR-OLD PERSON REALLY TOO
YOUNG TO RUN A COMPANY? LOOK AT MARK ZUCKERBERG,
WHO HAD ALREADY FOUNDED FACEBOOK BY THE AGE
OF TWENTY. A SIXTY-FIVE-YEAR-OLD MAN CAN NO
LONGER LEARN NEW IDEAS? PICASSO CONTINUED TO
PAINT AND EXPERIMENT WELL INTO HIS NINETIES.
AND POPE FRANCIS 1S REVOLUTIONIZING THE CHURCH
AFTER BEING ELECTED AT THE AGE OF SEVENTY-SIX.
Think, for example, about the attitudes we have regard-
ing age—both our own as well as others’. We encourage
young children to define themselves by their age. From
the perspective of a four-year-old boy, a child whois five
is older and one whois three is younger. He is constantly
asked his age and is taught to celebrate the change of age
with cakes and gifts.
Birthdays, as we know, are a cause for celebration, until
they are not anymore. One day, we realize that happy
birthday has become a not-so-happy birthday, and instead
of turning one year older, we would rather turn a year
younger. In private, we might allow ourselves to celebrate,
but in public, many of us opt for discretion, isn’t that so?
We all know that this is absurd, that being forty-five years
and a day old is not very different from being forty-five
26 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

years and a day younger. Nor is it very different to be
forty than it is to be thirty-nine. However, we speak of
the midlife crisis at forty, fifty, even at sixty. And these
crises really exist. They do not affect everyone equally,
but there are many people who experience them, and
data from multiple studies support this.
When researchers from New York University and UCLA
(University of California, Los Angeles) analyzed the age
of first-time marathon runners, the largest number were
runners of an age ending in nine. Respectively, twenty-
nine, thirty-nine, forty-nine, and fifty-nine years of age
represented 14.8 percent of all those registered, instead
of the 10 percent that would be expected if they did not
have that additional motivation. Ages ending in nine
are the ages that make you aware you are entering anew
decade and feel that you are getting older.
When analyzing the times of amateur marathon runners,
the best records also belong to those of an age ending in
nine. On average, they run 2.3 percent faster than athletes
of other ages. Their “milestone” ages explain why these
athletes are more motivated and probably better prepared
for the race.
The same pattern, even more pronounced, can be observed
when analyzing the age of married men seeking extra-
marital relationships on dating sites. Of those registered,
AGE 1S JUST A NUMBER : 27

17.9 percent are of an age ending in nine, instead of the
expected 10 percent. The search for an extramarital rela-
tionship is considered an indication—although this cannot
be proven empirically—that a person is going through
an existential crisis and seeks to add more meaning to
their life.
All of this is somewhat absurd, even comical. These
are small scenes within the great human comedy. Why
worry so much about turning a decade older? Just because
nature has equipped us with five fingers on each hand
and we learned to count by tens? If we had only four fin-
gers, we would have an age crisis every eight years, which
would be even more uncomfortable. If we had six fingers,
we would be lucky to be able to count in twelves. But we
have five fingers, and we worship the decimal system
and, more generally, numbers. Our brain has a natural
inclination to count, measure, and classify. We count
pounds, degrees, cholesterol, times, distances, calories,
prices, goals...and naturally, years as well. Everything
that can be counted.
The problem is that years do not truly tell us how much
younger or older we are. All they tell us is how many years
have passed since we were born—what we might call
our chronological age. But being younger or older—what
we could call our biological age—is, like everything else
related to the human body, more complex and subtle.
28 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

We have all seen that some people age more slowly than
others. There are those who seem old at seventy-seven
and those who seem relatively young at eighty. Young due
to their health, because they feel good and stay active,
but also due to their attitude, because they have projects
and have not lost their desire to accomplish their goals.
A clear proof that chronological age does not necessarily
correspond with biological age is that longevity runs in
families. In some households, it is normal to live past
ninety years of age. In others, household members will be
hard-pressed to remember anyone living past eighty-five.
In the Greek island of Ikaria, where life expectancy is
ten years greater than in the rest of Europe, a third of the
population lives longer than ninety years. In the Japanese
island of Okinawa, the likelihood of reaching a hundred is
three times higher than in the rest of Japan. There must be
something special about the inhabitants of these islands
that explains their exceptional longevity.
Further evidence of the difference between chronological
age and biological age is that in almost all cultures of the
world, life expectancy for women is higher than men.
Due to some of the many differences between the female
body and the male body, women age a little more slowly.
At this point, an inevitable question arises: if chronolog-
AGE 1S JUST A NUMBER : 29

ical age is less important, how can we know what our
biological age is?
The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention has
created a formula for calculating the heart age of a person,
starting with their chronological age and adjusting it
according to sex, blood pressure, smoking habits, diabetes,
and body mass index (a measure of body fat based on your
weight in relation to your height). This initiative has the
virtue of showing that, if we take care of ourselves, we can
prevent premature cardiac aging. But the downside is that
it does not really clarify our biological age, because aging
is a process that affects the entire body, not just the heart.
A test has also been developed to calculate biological age
based on the length of the telomeres in white blood cells.
Telomeres are DNA fragments that shorten with aging,
which we will explain in more detail in chapter 3. For now,
suffice it to say that given that telomeres become shorter
throughout our lifespan, their length can be considered a
marker of biological age. But again, aging does not affect
only telomeres.
A research team from Duke University in North Carolina
has gone a step further and devised a system to calcu-
late biological age based on data spanning the entire
body. They have assessed the state of the cardiovascular
system, the immune system, the liver, the kidneys, the
30 » THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

lungs, the gums, the arteries of the retina, the integrity of
the DNA...They have done tests to measure intellectual
performance and physical agility. They have considered
what age each person might seem based on appearance,
which was assessed by observers who did not know the
person’s actual chronological age. In summary, it is a
complete package.
The Duke researchers input all this data into computers
and then implemented an algorithm to calculate the bio-
logical age of each person. Not surprisingly, this system
is very expensive and impractical. Few people will be
willing to go through so many tests just to find out what
an algorithm has to say about his or her alleged biological
age. But the results of the investigation are revealing.
When this algorithm was applied to a group of 954 men
and women born thirty-eight years prior, it was observed
that only 20 percent had a biological age of thirty-eight.
For the vast majority, the biological age was distributed
between thirty-four and forty-two years of age. This
means that the biological age differed from the chrono-
logical age up to 10 percent, either above or below. This
was true for the vast majority.
There was also a small minority of lucky people who did
not even reach the biological age of thirty. This means that
they showed a rejuvenation of more than 20 percent com-
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER : 31

pared to their chronological age. Another small minority
had aged prematurely and had the health equivalent of
someone over fifty.
An interesting fact is that the physical appearance of the
participants in the study, which had not undergone any
cosmetic treatments, accurately reflected each partici-
pant’s biological age. Meaning, those who appeared to
be thirty years old had a biological age of around thirty
years old. Those who seemed to be forty had the biology
of someone who was forty. This means that the body
performed as if it were forty years old.
What is most interesting is that, although we cannot do
anything to change our chronological age, we can change
the biological age. At least to a certain extent, because
aging faster or slower depends largely on our genes. Thus,
longevity does run in families. But it also depends largely
on how well we care for or mistreat our bodies and what
we do with them, not only physically but also emotionally
and intellectually. It depends on our behavior but also on
our attitude. Basically, we decide how we live.
Participants of research studies at Duke University were
also analyzed for a span of twelve years, from ages twenty-
six to thirty-eight. It was noted that some had aged more
rapidly and others more slowly. All of them considered
themselves young. When asked their age, they would
32. THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

say thirty-eight. But some were aging at full speed. What
lesson can we draw from this? Simply that if we want
to stay younger longer and have a long life and enjoy it,
the sooner we start to care for ourselves, the better the
results we'll see.
When you think about it, research on longevity—how to
add years to life and life to years—has traditionally focused
on older people. Which is fine, but if younger people were
also taken into account, it would be even better. Growing
old is like a woodworm. It does not begin later in life,
but rather when growth stops happening. It advances
stealthily through the years. And when we finally realize
it is there, much of the damage has been done.
Growing old is like a woodworm. It does not begin later
in life, but rather the moment growth stops. It advances ©
stealthily through the years. And when we finally realize
it is there, much of the damageis already done. _
You may have noticed that none of the methods for mea-
suring biological age are satisfactory. We have no way of
knowing the exact age of our cells, tissues, and organs.
You can view it as testament to our ignorance: how little
we truly know about growing older and how much science
has yet to learn. If you expected this book to hold all the
answers, return it now and ask for your money back!
In essence, we are lucky that we cannot really find out our
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER - 33

biological age. More than likely, there will come a day not
too far in the future where more reliable biological age
tests will be offered. We will either get good news (“You
are eight years younger than what your ID says.”) or useful
information to improve our health (“You are eight or more
years older; let’s see what we can do to help.”). If we look
at it the other way around, it could be said that these tests
provide us with bad news or useless information.
Will we live better when we have these tests, or will we
simply replace discrimination based on chronological age
with a new discrimination based on biological age? With
this information, an insurance company could accept or
reject a client. Acompany in countries where there are no
laws to prohibit it could decide whether or not to hire an
employee. A dating website could segregate its users...The
possibilities for discrimination are endless, and almost
all of them infringe on individual liberties.
Ultimately, what does growing old mean? It is not the exact
same thing as turning a year older. It is easily confused
because it is two processes that move forward with time.
Years are measured with a number, objective and unques-
tionable, and they determine what others think of us. But
the most important thing in growing old is how we see
ourselves. It is a process of vulnerability—physical as well
as mental—that cannot be reduced to a number. Of course,
some of the aging parameters can be measured objectively,
34 . THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

such as the decline of our respiratory capacity, the loss of
hearing or vision, or the number of drugs we take. Other
parameters are subjective: the feeling of being capable
of doing things, the desire to do those things, and the
capacity to enjoy each and every day. These are the most
important, and there is no test that can measure them.
Chronological Age, Misleading Appearance
For most people, biological age does not
correspond to chronological age
Study of biological
age of a group of
954 38-year-olds
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WRINKLES
THE MOST OBVIOUS CHANGES
ARE NOT THE MOST IMPORTANT
The mirror, wrote Borges, is abhorrent because it dupli-
cates a person. What he did not write, but probably
thought, is that every day it duplicates a person differ-
ently from the previous day. We’ve all experienced this
transformation. We bring the mirror close to our face and
find a spot that was not there yesterday, a wrinkle that
has become deeper, a random gray hair...The changes
that come with age become more evident as they accu-
mulate. The more changes there are, the more difficult it
is toignore them. And there is no part of the body where
change is more evident than the skin. The mirror makes
sure we remember this every morning.
The changes that occur in the skin are not very different
WRINKLES - 37

from those stealthily taking place inside the body. They
are different in appearance, because wrinkles, gray hair,
and blemishes are unique to the tissues of the skin. But in
essence, they are similar, for all tissues tend to degrade
through the same processes. So understanding how skin
ages and what can be done to stop its deterioration can
teach us how to understand and curb the aging process
throughout the body.
No one, no matter how much they try, can maintain
youthful-looking skin at an advanced age. After the age of
twenty, the amount of collagen that gives skin its firmness
begins to decrease. Collagen is the most abundant protein
in the human body, and it is responsible for maintaining
the integrity of fibrous tissues such as muscles, tendons,
ligaments, and cartilages. It acts as a flexible mold—a
kind of frame that gives tissues their shape.
In the skin, the amount of collagen decreases at a rate of
about 1 percent each year. If the decline begins at twenty
years of age, once we reach forty, the collagen in our skin
has reduced by about 28 percent. By the time we are sixty,
32 percent. And, with the decrease in collagen, it is not
surprising that the appearance of the skin changes with
age. It becomes more flaccid.
Over the years, there is also a reduction in the amount
of elastin, a protein that gives elasticity to the skin and
38 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

other tissues, as its name suggests. By simply pressing
someone’s forearm with a fingernail, we can understand
what elastin does. On a younger person’s skin, the mark
left by the fingernail will vanish quickly, but older skin
will take longer to regain its initial form. The older we
get, the longer it takes. It is not serious, nor a flaw, nor
anything to be ashamed of. It is simply that older people
have less elastin.
There is a third component of the skin that declines with
age. I am referring to—you might want to take a breath
before saying this—glycosaminoglycans, or GAGs, if you
prefer the acronym. They are molecules that abound in
the human body and attract water. They are said to be
hydrophilic. You have probably heard of some of them.
If you have ever had a knee injury and had hyaluronic
acid injected into it, know those are GAGs improving
the lubrication of the joint. In the skin, the GAGs are in
charge of good hydration. But as the skin gradually loses
its ability to produce GAGs, it becomes drier and more
brittle with age.
NO ONE, NO MATTER HOW CAREFUL, CAN MAINTAIN
YOUTHFUL-LOOKING SKIN AT AN ADVANCED AGE. AFTER THE
AGE OF TWENTY, THE AMOUNT OF COLLAGEN THAT OUR SKIN
PRODUCES BEGINS TO DECREASE. IT ACTS AS A FLEXIBLE
MOLD—A KIND OF FRAME THAT HOLDS THE TISSUES.
WRINKLES : 39

To all of this, we add the redistribution of fat. In a young
face, fat found directly under the skin (or subcutane-
ous fat) is distributed uniformly, which gives it the soft
round shape we associate with beauty. In older people,
the volume of subcutaneous fat is reduced and the face
becomes more angular. At the same time, fat tends to
move downward due to gravity; bags under the eyes may
appear, as well as sagging cheeks or jowls.
These are all changes that dermatologists call intrinsic,
because they come from inside the body. But they are
not the only factors influencing skin aging. There are
also changes caused by bad treatment of the skin, called
extrinsic by dermatologists because they come from
external aggressions.
The most common aggression on your skin, which you
have probably already heard of, is solar radiation. A little
sun is desirable, even essential. If we are never exposed
to the sun, we lack vitamin D, which occurs naturally in
the skin and is necessary for its proper formation and
maintenance. The sun also has positive psychological
effects. During autumn, when days become shorter and
gray, some people feel sadder because they lack the joy
caused by sunlight.
However, too much sun has more disadvantages than
advantages, at least for the skin. Ultraviolet rays are to
40 : THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

blame, causing a degradation of not only aesthetics, but
also function.
We have special skin cells that produce melanin in
response to ultraviolet radiation. Melanin is the pigment
that makes us brown, which acts as a protective shield
and which our society considers attractive. But in order to
achieve this attractive protection, we must pay a high price.
The problem is that ultraviolet rays are more energetic
than visible light and have destructive capacities. One
of the skin’s victims is cell DNA, which suffers genetic
mutations when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. The
more radiation, the more mutations. That is why too much
sun increases the risk of skin cancer.
The other two victims are collagen and elastin, the two
proteins that give the skin a youthful appearance. Col-
lagen decreases with ultraviolet radiation, even without
getting sunburned. And elastin forms clusters of irregular
fibers that alter the appearance of the skin and cause what
dermatologists call solar elastosis. It is what gives people
who have spent thousands of hours exposed to sun, such
as sailors or farmers, that leathery-looking skin.
Next we have damage caused by tobacco, which is the
second most common extrinsic aggression to the skin.
There are cases where an observant person can tell if
WRINKLES : 41

someone is a smoker or not simply by their appearance,
at least if they are heavy smokers. There is even a clinical
term called “smoker face.” It is characterized by prema-
ture wrinkles, especially around the eyes in the form of
crow’s feet and around the lips, and as changes in texture
and color of the skin that give the face a haggard aspect.
It affects 8 percent of people who have smoked for ten
years, and the percentage increases the longer the person
has been smoking.
It is not known exactly how tobacco causes this accel-
erated aging of the skin. We know that the presence of
smoke in the air dries the skin from outside the body; that
on the inside, toxic tobacco byproducts reach the skin
through the blood; that these toxic molecules provoke
inflammation of which the smoker is unaware; and that
the inflammation alters the skin’s appearance. This in turn
causes the secretion of enzymes called metalloproteins
(or MMP). The MMP—which, by the way, also occur in
response to the sun’s ultraviolet rays—decrease collagen.
With the decrease of collagen, as previously explained,
the skin loses firmness and the appearance of wrinkles is
accelerated. However, this is probably not the complete
story; there are other ways tobacco damages the skin that
have not yet been discovered.
In any case, the two examples of ultraviolet rays and
tobacco are enough to illustrate the important issue at
42 . THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

hand. As previously explained, in relation to the skin and
any other tissue, aging has intrinsic causes derived from
the simple fact of being alive. If we live, we age. There is
no alternative to this universal law. But aging is also mod-
ulated by external factors that depend on how we choose
to live. It depends on whether we benefit from the sun or
burn our skin. It depends on whether we smoke or not.
These external factors, as we have seen, act upon intrinsic
causes and regulate them. If we accumulate MMP, we
damage our collagen. If we abuse our bodies with radia-
tions, toxins, and other aggressions, we speed up the aging
process. However, in the same way we can accelerate it,
we can also stop it. In the following pages and chapters,
we will see how.
In the case of the skin, the first things that come to mind
when we talk about stopping the aging process are aes-
thetic medical treatments. Facelifts, Botox, fillers, creams...
Few areas in medicine have increased their activity in
recent decades, built as many clinics, and made as much
money as aesthetic medicine. If this growth proves any-
thing, it is that there is a huge demand for treatments
that keep us young. And it must be said that the results
are sometimes spectacular.
But if one thinks about the human body in a holistic way,
and wonders what truly changes with these so-called anti-
WRINKLES : 43

aging treatments, one reaches the conclusion that they are
hardly anti-aging, because the changes are in appearance
only. Spectacular, but superficial. Meanwhile, under the
surface, the process of life and aging continues inexora-
bly. That is why some treatments such as Botox or filler
injections must be repeated regularly. They improve the
appearance but do not eliminate the source of the problem.
This does not mean that aesthetic medical treatments are
useless. For many of their users, they may have a positive
psychological effect such as improved self-esteem, which
is an important part of health and well-being.
However, it is still self-esteem linked to our appearance.
How we wish to be seen by others. Conforming to external
pressure, to stereotypes placed upon us. Self-esteem that
is ultimately based on fulfilling what is expected of us.
But there is a healthier kind of self-esteem and subtler
beauty, which is based on accepting ourselves as we are,
not placing more importance on appearance than sub-
stance, and not giving in to stereotypes and pressures. A
self-esteem that comes from inside.
lf we want to change our biological age, and not just
the appearance of our chronological age, we will have.
to alter what happens under the surface, in the depths
of our cells. _
44 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

This dichotomy between external pressure and internal
drive is essential when we talk about stopping the aging
process. We can settle for appearances, put makeup on
our face, and present ourselves to society pretending time
does not touch us. But if we want to change our biological
age, and not just the appearance of our chronological age,
we will have to alter what happens under the surface, in
the depths of our cells. We must undertake, like Jules
Verne, a journey to the center of our bodies. This is the
grand exploration adventure of the 21st century.
WRINKLES : 45

How Skin Changes with Age
Epidermis: The outermost layer % Dermis: The deepest layer
A Elastin: Maintains the elasticity O Collagen: Maintains the integrity
of the skin of the tissue
YOUNG SKIN
Epidermis and dermis are
closely connected
High density of collagen fibers and
elastin in the dermis
NATURAL AGING
It reduces the amount of fibers that
connect the epidermis and the
dermis
Fewer collagen fibers and elastin
Skin becomes thinner
Skin accumulates atypical and
inflammatory cells due to the effects
of ultraviolet radiation
Collagen fibers and elastin
degrade, which accelerates the
appearance of wrinkles
¥ Skin becomes thicker
46 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

CELLS NEVER SLEEP
THE MICROSCOPIC EFFECTS OF THE
PASSAGE OF TIME IN OUR TISSUES
When one begins to consider what happens in the body as
we age, the first impression 1s confusion. If we are guided
by common sense, we start with the idea that it is a process
of progressive deterioration. But soon, we realize that this
idea is too simple. Not everything deteriorates. Or at least
not everything deteriorates the same way.
Crystallized intelligence, for example, which is based on
knowledge and skills acquired throughout life, improves
with experience and therefore with age. The ability to
recognize emotions on other people’s faces also improves
over the years. There are other types of intelligence, how-
ever, that do decline.
CELLS NEVER SLEEP : 47

If we look at what happens in the cells, which are the basic
units that form our bodies, the picture that emerges 1s
enormously complex. Dozens of molecules have been
identified in the aging process, but it is not clear from the
outset what relationship they share.
Are they acting independently, like guerrillas threat-
ening our wellbeing without coordination? Or are we
programmed to grow old in a controlled manner—to retire
in time to make way for the next generations? The dis-
tinction is important, because if they are autonomous
guerrillas, it will achieve little to fight just one since others
will continue attacking. But if they are organized and there
is an alpha molecule in command, we can focus on elim-
inating it or negotiating with it to stop the aging process.
NOT EVERYTHING DETERIORATES. OR AT LEAST NOT
EVERYTHING DETERIORATES THE SAME WAY. CRYSTALLIZED
INTELLIGENCE, FOR EXAMPLE, WHICH IS BASED ON
KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS ACQUIRED THROUGHOUT LIFE,
IMPROVES WITH EXPERIENCE AND, THEREFORE, WITH
AGE. THE ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE EMOTIONS ON OTHER
PEOPLE’S FACES ALSO IMPROVES OVER THE YEARS.
Let us begin with telomeres, which we discussed in chap-
ter 1, when we said that there is a test that uses them to
48 - THE SCIENCE OF A LONG LIFE

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father said Squire Stryker spoke of the man as 'scamp' and
rapscallion,' but, he never really openly accused him of
misdemeanor. There was the scene, and the next day Stryker closed
his place, and took himself and his girl off, to parts unknown. The
dismissed bailiff, a handsome, prepossessing chap, my father said,
disappeared, and nothing more was heard of him. Idea married, and
came back Mrs. Crewe. Young Mrs. Crewe, in those days. 'Ol' lady
Crewe up-the-road-a-ways,' now."
"Well, what do you think of that!" ejaculated Martha. "So that's
the reason why, when she hears it, the name Ballard's like a rag to a
red bull! Now, what do you think of that!"
"What do you mean?" Mr. Ronald asked.
"Why, the ol' lady was took sick suddently a few weeks ago, an'
Sam, he couldn't get Dr. Driggs, who was out at the time, an',
besides, wasn't achin' to go to the poor ol' body, anyhow, to have his
head snapped off, an' then haggle over the bill, into the bargain. So
he took the best he could get, meanin' Sam did, which was Dr.
Ballard, a fine young fella from Boston. The minute the ol' lady
clapped eye to'm, an' heard his name, she up an' had a kinda Dutch
fit. Wouldn't see'm. It was all I could do, what with talkin' an'
contrivin', to make her, an' then she set about layin' down the law to
Miss Katherine, forbiddin' her parley with'm, or see'm at all, which is
as good as sayin', 'Bless you, my childern!' over their married heads,
if she but knew it!"
Frank Ronald laughed. "The wisdom of Socrates! I tell you what
it is, Martha, we'll make a philosopher of you, yet!"
"Anything you like, sir. Sever'l has lately mentioned wantin' to
make things outa me. The more the merrier. An' if, in the end, I ain't

good for nothin' else, maybe they'll hire me in a circus, for a side-
show freak.—THE MADE OVER LADY. WHICH, SHE WAS ONCET JUST
PLAIN MARTHA SLAWSON. BUT IS NOW SO MANY DIFFERENT
THINGS, IT'D MAKE YOU DIZZY TO LOOK AT HER. But I must be
goin'. Them childern o' mine will 'a' turned the house upside down
with their rapchers over the presents you brought'm."
Mrs. Ronald laid a hand upon her husband's shoulder. "I'd like to
take a walk, Frank. Won't you come?"
"An' on the way I'll show you my new hen-house," promised
Martha. "One o' the things I'm learnin' to be, is a chicken-raiser. I'm
learnin' hard, an', you might say, the chicks is learnin' harder. But it'll
all come out right in the end, if both parties hang on, an' keep a stiff
upper lip. The first time a brood died on me, I 'most fretted myself
sick. But now I learned not to hitch my heart to no hen. I do the
best I can by 'em, an' leave the rest to proverdence, an' the
inkerbater. Only, you can take it from me, them inkerbaters may be a
improvement on the old way, but they certaintly is death to the
mother-instinc' in hens. Hens is like women. The less they have to
do, the less they do, especially if they keep well. The minute you
begin turnin' your offsprings over to other parties, to be brought up,
that's the time your sect is goin' to run down. An' the chicks don't
grow up with no more feelin' o' reverence for their elders, an' them
that bore'm, then the childern we're raisin' nowadays. It's all wrong,
these modren contrivances is. We think we're smart, shovin' our
ways in, ahead o' nature's, but just you wait, an' see what comes o'
this generation o' kids, give'm time to grow up to be men, an'
women, an' so forth. You can take it from me, George Washin'ton
an' Abraham Linco'n wasn't brought up in cotton-wool, so that every

time somebody crossed'm, an' they got red in the face with temper,
there'd be a trained nurse to pop a the'mometer under their
tongues, to see if they had a 'temperachure.' What kep' their childish
fevers down was a good fannin' with mother's slipper, an' they grew
up to tell the truth an' fear the devil, along with the other grown-up
members of the fam'ly. But, these days, everything's for the kids, an'
they know it. Believe me, my heart bleeds for my grandchildern. An',
talkin' o' grandchildern, here's the model henhouse o' New England.
Internal decoratin' done by Mr. Sammy Slawson's son, junior."
Martha held her little party back long enough to relate the tale
of Sammy and the whitewashing.
"An' I told'm," she concluded, "he could walk his little self back,
with his little pail o' whitewash, an' his little brush, an' get busy an'
keep busy, till every last thing in the place got a good coat. I told'm,
'Don't you leave a thing go free, young man!' so I guess we'll see a
thora job this time, or I'm mistaken."
A spotless interior, gleaming, white, proved her surmise correct.
Sammy had evidently made "a thora job" of it this time.
Claire would have been satisfied with a brief glance, but her
husband detained her.
"I say, Martha," he addressed Mrs. Slawson, "what is it you told
young Sam? 'Not to let a thing go free'?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, he's a model boy. He has obeyed you to the letter. Look
here!"
Martha, looking in the direction indicated, saw a bunch of
animate white, huddled disconsolately against a far corner of the
white wall.

"What is it?" she asked.
Mr. Ronald made a clucking sound, and the bunch separated
sluggishly, proving itself to be two very thoroughly whitewashed
hens.
Martha stared a moment aghast. Then gradually, as the truth
dawned upon her, her broad shoulders began to shake.
"The joke's on you, Martha!" Mr. Ronald said, smiling quizzically.
Martha turned grave in a moment. "Beggin' your pardon, sir,"
she returned, "I'm afraid it's on the hens. But, what'll I do to
Sammy? He's a young villain, o' course, only I ain't a leg to stand on,
for to punish'm. He's just been mindin' his mother."
"'And the moral of that is,' as Alice would say, that even
obedience can sometimes be too complete," observed Mr. Ronald
with relish.
Whatever misgivings young Sam might have entertained,
nothing in his mother's demeanor, when she, Miss Claire, and Lord
Ronald arrived at the Lodge a little while later, seemed to justify
them.
Perhaps she hadn't seen the hens. Perhaps the hens had licked
or lapped the whitewash off, an inspiration derived from his
experience with Flicker, the dog, and Nixcomeraus, the cat. In any
case, Mrs. Slawson was apparently undisturbed, standing by (young
Sam noticed his mother never sat in the presence of ladies and
gentlemen "like Mr. and Mrs. Ronald, Dr. Ballard, or Miss Katherine")
as Miss Claire inquired after Ma's health.
"Fair-rly, fair-rly, thank you kindly," the old woman was
responding, "I'm thryin' a new remidy, now, an' I think it's goin' to
help me. Ol' Mis' Harris says, 'no matther who ye a-are, or what ails

ye, if ye get a nutmeg, an' bore a hole through't, an' string it on a
white-silk t'read, an' a black-silk t'read, an' hang't 'round your neck,
ye'll be surprised,' ol' Mis' Harris says."
"I'd be surprised anyhow," observed Martha. "I'm always
surprised."
"And you like living up here?" Mrs. Ronald gently put to the old
woman.
"Well, tolerabl', tolerabl'. I don't mind the livin' in it, as ye might
sa', but——"
"Ma means, as long as she lives she'll never die in the country,"
Martha supplied.
"Well, if it comes to dyin' itself, I'd rather die where there was
moar to be folla'in' me. I sa' to me son Sammy's wife, often an'
often, 'When I die don't ye go to anny gr'reat expense for me
funerll. I should want ye lay me out decent, but plain, an'——'"
Martha shrugged good-naturedly. "An' I always answer back,
'Don't ye trouble yourself. In such cases they ain't accustomed to
consult the corpse.'"
"But you're not thinking of dying yet," Claire said. "I'm sure
you're not."
The old woman shook her head. "No, I don't wanta die—not
while the sun shines so bright, an' the evenin' star's so pretty."
"Of course you don't. And you're not going to die for ever and
ever so long. You only feel a little low-spirited sometimes, perhaps.
Isn't that it? The country seems strange to you, I have no doubt.
Why don't you make some visits to your other sons and daughters?"
Mrs. Ronald suggested craftily. "That would be a fine plan, I think.
How glad they would be to see you after your long separation. And,

oh, Martha, talking of visits—you know the visitor I told you we are
expecting in August? I'm thinking of fitting up a little room especially
for—for her. I have sent to Grand Rapids for all my dear old things,
because I've a fancy they'll help to make her feel as happy as they
used to make me, and perhaps then she won't get homesick, and
want to slip away from us as—as visitors do, sometimes. My curtains
were lovely, but I think they need a stitch here and there. If you will
put them in order for me—mend them thoroughly, and launder them
in your finest style, I'll give you—let me see! the cleaners in town
asked me fifteen dollars. I'll pay you fifteen dollars."
Fifteen dollars! Martha's eyes gleamed. Here was her
opportunity to earn the price of her ticket to New York and back.
"You'll do it?"
"You betcher—I'll do it with pleasure, an' thank you for the
chance, Miss Claire. An'—my! but if here ain't Dr. Ballard, comin' up
the walk!"
Martha performed the act of introduction with dignity, then
quietly effaced herself, silently signaling her family to "fade away, an'
make room for your betters."
Claire "took" to the newcomer at once, predisposed in his favor
by a certain shadow of resemblance she saw, or thought she saw, to
a friend of her youth, a certain Bob Van Brandt who, once upon a
time, had laid his heart at her feet. There was the same manly
frankness, the same touch of boyish impetuosity. She wondered if
there were the same fatal lack of determination.
What time she pondered, her husband was harking back to
otherwhiles, when a Ballard had lived in the neighborhood.

"My grandfather," the young man said quite simply. "He was
bailiff, as they called it in those days, to Squire Stryker."
Frank Ronald liked that. It rang true.
Martha was not listening to the conversation. Her mind was full
of the thought that now she could conscientiously go honeymooning
with Sam.
"It wouldn'ta been right to take the money outa the little we got
saved," she ruminated. "That's gotta stay where it is, no matter
what. But if I do the curtain-job, I'll have my own cash. I can go
with my own man, an' I wouldn't call the queen my cousin."
When, at length, the Ronalds took leave, Dr. Ballard, lingering,
said:
"I'm in a hole, Mrs. Slawson." He paused, hesitated, then
colored. "I say I'm in a hole—really it's Miss Crewe. My difficulty is, I
want to help her out, and, up to date, haven't been able. Madam
Crewe is fretting herself into a fever because the fruit on the place is
going to waste. Confound it! She's making Miss Crewe's life
miserable, teasing her to 'do it up.' Miss Crewe doesn't know how to
do it up, she tells me, and, there you are!"
"What about Eunice Youngs? The girl I got to accommodate
for'm, at four dollars per," inquired Mrs. Slawson.
The doctor laughed. "Nothing doing, I gather, else Miss Crewe
wouldn't be in so deep. This morning I managed to kidnap her—Miss
Crewe, not Eunice. Took her for a drive. She needs fresh air and
change. I took her to Mrs. Peckett's, because I knew Mrs. Peckett
boasts she's the best housekeeper in New England."
Martha folded her arms across her bosom, and half closed her
eyes.

"'If I do say it as shouldn't,'" she repeated in Mrs. Peckett's fat,
self-satisfied voice. "'If I do say it as shouldn't, no one can beat me
on jells and perserves. My jells and perserves have took first prize at
the country fair, as far back as I can remember.' I ran in oncet to
ask, would she give me a helpin' hand, or, rather, a helpin' tongue,
on the perserve question. 'Why, certaintly,' says she. 'I'm always
delighted to oblige, I'm sure. My rule is simple as ABC. There's no
art in it at all. It's just my way o' doin', I s'pose, for every time I give
my rule to anybody else, it never comes out right.' An' then she give
me her rule, an' I knew the reason why.
"'You take what you're goin' to jar, and you wash it, if it's
berries, or pare an' cut up if it's pit-fruit. Add water, an' set on the
stove in a kettle till you come to a boil. Add sugar an'——'
"'How much sugar?' says I.
"'Accordin' to conscience,' she says.
"'How about if you haven't got a conscience?' I says. Mrs.
Peckett looked like she'd drop in her tracks with shock. 'Why, Mrs.
Slawson!' says she, 'everybody's got a conscience.'
"'Oh,' I says. 'You see, comin' from the city I didn't know. I
suppose some keeps theirs just to measure by, when they're puttin'
up fruit,' for I was tired o' seein' her dodge from the table to the
stove, always tryin' to shut me off from seein' how she done things.
As if she couldn't o' refused firstoff, if she didn't want to help. I
wouldn't 'a' minded. If she done the same to Miss Katherine, I don't
wonder she's just about where she was before—in the same old
hole."
"That's just where she is," Dr. Ballard admitted. "Have you any
suggestions for getting her out?"

Martha pondered a moment. "Well, I never took a prize at no
country fair, or city one either, for my jells, or perserves, or anything
else. I ain't a boss housekeeper, an' I don't pertend to be, but my
suggestion is—bright an' early to-morra mornin', me an' my
perservin' kettle will wanda out to Crewesmere, as they call it. I'll
bring Sammy with me to pick, an' sort the fruit, an' Cora to wash,
an' heat the jars. They're used to it. An'—you just tell Miss
Katherine, if you'll be so good, that she can heave the perserve-
trouble off'n her chest. Tell her don't worry. Mrs. Peckett ain't the
only one's got a 'rule.'"
CHAPTER V
The day had been sultry, and sunset brought no relief. Evening fell
windstill, breathless.
For once Katherine was glad to obey her little martinet
grandmother's arbitrary regulation: Lights out at nine. She sat by her
bedroom window looking out over a white, moonlit world, thinking
black thoughts. Suddenly she rose, for no better reason, apparently,
than that a quick, inner impulse of impatience against herself, must
find vent in some outward act.
"It's dreadful! I'm growing bitter, hard, deceitful. I'm living a lie.
Acting as if I were obedient, and respectful to her, and—feeling like
a rebel every minute in the day. I've got to end it, somehow. I can't
go on like this any longer."

Just outside her window a little balcony (the railed-in roof of the
porte-cochère) shone like a silver patch against the darker foliage.
The shadows of leaves cast an intricate pattern upon the moonlit
space, and Katherine gazed at it abstractedly until a moving speck in
the motionless night caught her attention, and fixed it. As she
watched, the speck became a shape, the shape an automobile
moving rapidly, almost noiselessly, toward the house, along the
white ribbon of a driveway. Just before her window it stopped.
"Hello!" called Dr. Ballard softly.
Katherine hid a radiant smile in the folds of her shadowy
curtain. "Sh!" she cautioned. "You'll wake grandmother."
"Then come down. I've something to tell you."
"No. Too late!"
"Nonsense!"
"I can't."
"Oh, very well."
His instant acceptance of her negative was not altogether
agreeable.
One moment, and he was bending over his steering-wheel,
busying himself with the gear, probably preparatory to driving on
and away. The next, he was out of the car, had scaled the porch-
pillar, vaulted the low railing, and was calmly sitting not two feet
away from her, Turk-fashion, upon the balcony floor.
Katherine laughed. "I didn't know you could climb like that."
"I can't. That wasn't a climb. 'Twas a scramble. Bad work. But
I'm out of practice."
"You mustn't stay. Grandmother wouldn't like it. Remember, she
forbade my having anything to do with you."

"Sorry, but I don't feel obliged to conform, on that account. If
you don't like it, that's another story."
Katherine was silent.
Dr. Ballard did not press the point.
"You said you had something to tell me."
"On second thought I'll postpone it."
"Why?"
"The moonlight suggests mystery. Let's leave it a mystery."
"I hate mysteries."
"As I diagnose your case, you're by way of 'hating' most things,
nowadays. Come. Confess. Aren't you?"
Katherine nodded mutely.
"Don't do it," advised Dr. Ballard.
"I can't help it," she burst out with quite uncharacteristic
impetuosity. "So much in life is hateful. Sometimes, I feel one isn't
bound to endure things, when they make one so detestable. I was
thinking about it just before you came. Thinking about the sort of
thing life can make of one. Everything one oughtn't to be. I hate
myself, along with all the rest."
Dr. Ballard sat with his hands clasped around his knees, and
gazed straight up above him into the great stretch of dusky sky,
spangled over with constellations.
"I wonder what Mrs. Slawson would say to that?" he ruminated.
Katherine started. "Mrs. Slawson?"
"Yes. I've made it out that she's rather a specialist, when it
comes to life, and that sort of thing. Really, I think it might pay you
to consult her. By the way, she asked me to say that you 'can heave

the perserve trouble off'n your chest.' She is going to see you get a
'rule,' or something."
"Oh, good! That is a load off one's mind. And, speaking of
chests, it can't be very good for yours, to be doing heavy
gymnastics, such as climbing porch-posts. Can it?"
"Why not? My chest's O.K. Nothing in the least 's the matter
with my chest."
"Oh,—I thought——" blundered Katherine awkwardly.
"What?"
"Somebody told me—I don't recollect who—that you had a
'spot' or something, on your lung. I'm so sorry."
Dr. Ballard flung back his head with a low, boyish chuckle.
"Somebody's got hold of the wrong case. My nerves, mixed with
another chap's bellows. No, I'm not up here on account of any one
spot—it's the whole rundown machine that needs repairing. I'm used
up. Tired out."
"Tired out—waiting for patients?" asked Katherine
mischievously.
Dr. Ballard gave her a quick look. "That's it. Waiting for
patients," he quoted with perfect good humor.
"I suppose it's hard work building up a practice in a city as big
as Boston."
"Quite hard work."
"Don't you get discouraged?"
"Why should I?"
"Oh, there must be so many obstacles, hindrances. Even if you
are clever, there must be so many older men with established
reputations. Great physicians, great surgeons."

"Precisely. That's the fun of it. The game wouldn't be worth
playing, if 'twas easy to win out. It's hard. That's why I like it."
Katherine rose slowly, and stood in the window embrasure,
looking down upon him thoughtfully.
"You've given me something to sleep on," she said. "I'll
remember what you've said. 'The game wouldn't be worth playing, if
'twas easy.' And I have been whining because it is hard."
"Katherine!" shrilled a petulant voice, breaking rudely through
the soft evening hush.
"Coming, grandmother."
"Good night!" exclaimed Dr. Ballard with slangy intention.
The next moment, Katherine saw his agile figure disappear over
the rim of the balustrade. She turned quickly to answer the
imperative call, all the old miserable feelings returning in a rush.
"I want a drink of water."
If Martha Slawson had been in Katherine's place, the mother-
heart in her would have understood that childish call at once. But
the girl had no experience that would help her to interpret the
meaning of it. She supplied the drink with as much promptness, and
as little sentiment, as a nickel-in-the-slot machine.
Madam Crewe drained the glass thirstily.
"It's a warm night," she observed socially.
"Very warm."
"Queer the way my head acts," continued the lonely old woman,
obviously making conversation to detain Katherine. "Sometimes it
seems full of sounds, so I think I hear real voices speaking. A little
while ago, I heard a man's laugh, as clear as could be. You weren't
downstairs with a caller, were you?"

"I haven't been out of my room since supper-time,
grandmother."
The words seemed to Katherine to burn her lips, as she uttered
them. She turned abruptly to the door. Her grandmother called her
back.
"You know what I've been thinking?"
Katherine stood at attention, but silent, unequal to the task of
counterfeiting interest.
"I've been thinking, I'm going to give the cow to Slawson. It
bothers me when I can't pay my debts, and the woman won't take a
cent for what she's done. Besides, it's expensive keeping live-stock
these days, with fodder so high, and labor even worse. We don't
need a cow, just you and I. Cheaper to buy milk than feed the
creature through the winter, and hire Peter to come and milk. It
counts up. Slawson can keep her, and turn an honest penny letting
us have milk at lowest price. See?"
"Yes, grandmother."
"You don't like the plan?"
"Giving the cow to Mrs. Slawson is very nice, I think, but I
always hate presents with strings to them. Having to supply us with
milk takes the cream off the cow."
"Pooh! That's nonsense. You've altogether too big notions.
They'll get you into trouble, if you don't take care. I can see you
making ducks and drakes of a fortune in no time, if you didn't have
some one to hold a tight rein over you. By the way, how about those
preserves?"
"I'll put them up to-morrow, grandmother."

"See you do. Else, first thing you know, the fruit will be gone.
Rotted on the trees."
"I promise you, I'll put it up to-morrow without fail," Katherine
repeated very distinctly.
Back in her own room she laughed bitterly, while two hot tears
slipped down her cheeks. "Promise! Poor thing! and she believes me!
She thinks my word is as good as my bond. So it is—and neither of
them is worth a rush," she assailed herself. No, she had forgotten.
She was telling the truth about the preserves, at least. Mrs. Stewson
was going to let her have a "rule." But the false impression she had
deliberately conveyed about the caller still "stuck in her crop," as
Martha would have said. And yet, what right had her grandmother or
any one else, to tie her hand and foot, so she must resort to
subterfuge if she wanted to move a muscle?
It wasn't fair that one life should be crippled to serve the whim
of another. If her grandmother insisted on cutting her off from all
natural pleasures, let her take the consequences. She fell asleep at
last, nursing her sense of injury, brooding over her wrongs.
The next morning, while the casual Eunice was clearing the
breakfast table, Katherine heard a sound outside, which caused her
to hurry to the window. The sound was familiar, but the time for it
unusual. The doctor's car was not due at Crewesmere so early in the
day. Yet there it was, and, as Katherine gazed, from it issued, as if in
installments, Mrs. Slawson, a small boy, a big girl, and—a huge,
granite-ware preserving-kettle.
In less than a minute the tempo of the house was changed.
Things moved vivace.

"Sammy, you go out with this basket, an' strip them trees as
fast as you can put. Cora, you show'm where to go, after Miss Crewe
she tells you, that's a good girl. Eunice, get me every one o' them
perserve-jars off'n the top pantry-shelf, an' when you wash'm, see
the water's good an' hot, but not so's it'll crack the glass. We'll need
them scales, Miss Katherine. I knew you had'm, or I'd 'a' brought my
own. If you watch me measurin', an' write down what the
perportions are, an' how I handle'm, you'll have a 'rule' for future
use, which, if it never took a prize like Mrs. Peckett's, certaintly
never poisoned anybody yet, that ever et it, so far as I know."
It was wonderful how the load lifted from Katherine's heart.
"I don't know how it is, Mrs. Slawson," she said at length, "but
whenever you're here, I feel about twice as strong and brave, as at
any other time. It isn't alone that you do so much, but you make me
think I can do things too; things I know I'm not equal to, otherwise."
Martha smiled. "Believe me, you don't know what you're equal
to, an' don't you forget it. No more do I. We ain't done up in bags,
like seven pounds o' sugar, we human bein's, so's we know what
we're equal to. The heft of us comes out, accordin' to the things in
life we got to measure up to. When I was married, firstoff, I thought
I wasn't equal to livin' with my mother-in-law, an' puttin' up with her
peculiar-rarities. But, laws o' man! I found I was. An', what's more, I
found I been equal to one or two other little things since, worse than
her, by a good sight. What helped me some, was realizin' I got
peculiar-rarities of my own other folks has to be equal to."
Katherine caught her under lip between her teeth, as if to hold
back words trying to come out. A minute, and they came.

"But, I don't see why some people have a right to make others
unhappy."
"They haven't. No more than a body has a right to make herself
unhappy. But they do it, all the same."
"One wouldn't mind making one big sacrifice, or two, or three,
in a lifetime, if that were all. But, it seems, nothing is ever enough.
You think you've vanquished one thing, and, before you know it,
you've got it all to do over again. Has your life been that way, Mrs.
Slawson? Does one never get through having to give up one's own
wishes and will to the wishes and will of others?"
Mrs. Slawson stirred in silence for a moment the delicious brew
simmering on the stove.
"Did you ever scrub a floor?" she asked, at length. "No, o'
course you didn't. Mostly, ladies thinks scrubbin' floors is dretful low
work. Well, it ain't. Scrubbin' floors'll learn you a lot o' other things,
if you let it. In the first place, there's a right an' wrong way to it,
same's there is to tonier jobs. If you're goin' to begrutch your elbow
grease, an' ain't willin' to get down on your marra-bones, an' attend
strictly to business, you ain't goin' to succeed. Well, we'll say, you
scrubbed a spot, good an' clean. That ain't all. You got to keep goin'
back on yourself, scrubbin' back over the places where you left off,
else there'll be streaks, an' when your floor dries on you, the
streaks'll show up, for all they're worth, an' give you dead away. As I
make it out, it's just the same with livin'. If you begrutch takin'
pains, an' keep your eye out, all the time, for fear you'll do a little
more'n your share, why, you can take it from me, you're goin' to
show streaks. You better never done it at all, than done it so's it'll be
a dead give-away on you. You can't scrub clean with dirty water, an'

you can't live clean, 'less you keep turnin' out all the messy feelin's
you got in you, an' refillin' your heart with fresh, same's you would
your water-pail. But, even when you've done your job right, oncet
ain't goin' to be enough. You couldn't keep clean with one scrub-
down, no matter how thora. It's got to be done over to-morra, an'
the next day, an' so on. If a body don't like it, why, that don't change
the fax any."
"But all of us don't have to scrub floors. And I don't see why, if
one had what you call a job one didn't like, he couldn't change it.
Just say: I won't live like this any longer. I'll have something better.
If there aren't ways of breaking loose from things one hates, and
making happiness for one's self, there ought to be. We should invent
them."
"Well, p'raps you're right. They certaintly do a lot o' inventin'
these days. They invented a way o' flyin' above the earth. But
there's no way I know of you can sail over your own particular place
in the world. After all's said an' done, you gotta come back home,
an' just stand flat, with your two little feet planted square in the
middle o' that state o' life onto which it's pleased the Lord to call
you."
"Then you don't believe people have the right to make their own
happiness?"
"Certaintly I do. I don't only think they have the right to, I think
they gotta. People have the right to make their happiness out o'
every last thing comes in their way. Every last scrap an' drop they
find anywheres about. Same's you'd make a perfectly good patch-
quilt out o' the rag-bag, an' A1 soap out o' drippin's. Any gener'l
houseworker at five dollars per, can make a roast out o' a prime cut

o' beef. Any fool can be happy, if they're handed out happiness in
chunks. But it takes a chef-cook to gather up all the sort o' queer
little odds an' ends in the pantry, an' season'm here, an' whip'm up
there, an' put'm on a dish, garnished with parsley, or smothered in
cream, an' give'm a fancy French name on a menoo-card, so's when
they come on the table, you smack your lips, an' say 'dee-licious!'
an' feel you got your money's worth."
"But if one has tried and tried? And it was no use? Things only
got more tangled?"
Martha pondered for a moment. "Sometimes, with a new spool
o' thread, you get aholt o' the wrong end, an' then you can pull an'
pull, an' tug an' tug, till you're black in the face, an' the more you
do, the more your cotton gets tangled on you. But if you'll go easy,
an' wait till you find the right end, it'll run off as smooth as grease.
D'you mind takin' a sip o' this licka, to see if you think it's sweet
enough to suit? Taste differs, an' some likes more sugar'n others."
* * * * *
"Well," said Dr. Ballard as, toward the close of the day, he was taking
leave of Katherine, having fulfilled his professional duty to his patient
upstairs. "Well, mademoiselle, was Mrs. Slawson of any use? Was
she a help?"
Katherine threw him a grateful glance. "A help? Rather. More of
a help than you'll ever know."
"The preserves are made?"
"You should view the shelves. They're a wonder. I believe we've
a stock that'll last us for the rest of our natural lives."

"And, you say, the Preserver has gone home? I expected to take
her with me."
"That's what she expected. But, about an hour ago, Mrs. Frank
Ronald drove up. She came to call, though, of course, it was my
place to go see her first, as she's a bride, and a stranger. She
brought grandmother an armful of roses. The loveliest things! Long-
stemmed ones, almost as tall as she is herself. Have you ever seen
her? Mrs. Ronald? She's the daintiest creature! She makes me feel a
giantess. And so unaffected, and cordial. So different from Mrs.
Sherman, who was Katherine Ronald. Somehow, I feel as if her
being here, were going to make things pleasanter. I'm happier, more
contented, and hopeful, than I've been for ever so long."
"And Mrs. Ronald sent her car for Mrs. Slawson?"
Katherine Crewe laughed. "'Not on your life,' as Mrs. Slawson
says. Mrs. Ronald just took her along in the car with her, preserving-
kettle and all. You should have seen the footman's expression! I had
told Mrs. Ronald about the preserving, and, as soon as she heard,
she proposed taking 'Martha,' as she calls her, back with her when
she went. She's evidently a democratic little person. I wonder how
such goings-on will please Mrs. Ronald, senior, and Katherine
Sherman. They're so frightfully what, when we were children, we
used to call 'stuck up.' I know grandmother would be horrified. She,
also, is stuck-up, as perhaps you may have gathered."
"Yes, she has made no attempt to hide it. But, I'd really like to
know why I come in for such a large share of her disapproval. To
forbid you to have anything to say to me, now, is really—— If she
weren't such a poor, helpless little old body, I'd have it out with her.
Have you any idea what the trouble is?"

Katherine flushed. "It's all too absurd. A man by the name of
Ballard was bailiff to her father, when she was a girl."
"I know that. My grandfather. What then? A bailiff's is a
perfectly good job. Look at Slawson. He's all right, isn't he? But,
anyway, things haven't stood still since those days. I'm not a bailiff.
I'm a physician. What's the matter with that?"
"Nothing—only——"
"Only—what?"
"She says——" Katherine hesitated.
"Out with it," urged Dr. Ballard.
"She says you've no practice. No income."
He laughed aloud. "How the deuce does she know?"
"You're so young."
"Oh, I am, am I? Well, I'll tell you a secret: I'm not quite so
young as, apparently, I look. I don't wear my hair a little thin on top
because I like that style, particularly. But, even if she's right, and I
have no practice—no income—how could that——?"
Katherine turned her face away, unable to meet his searching
eyes.
He spoke again at once. "The fact is, you're not giving it to me
straight. You're trying to soften the dull thud, or something. Now, be
honest. Speak the truth, like a little man. What's the reason I'm
persona non grata with Madam Crewe? Speak out. It'll be over in a
minute, and then you'll feel much better, and so shall I."
"It's too humiliating to have to repeat it," Katherine fairly wailed.
"She's old. She doesn't realize how things sound. She said—I'm
quoting, word for word—repeating every foolish syllable, but you will
have it. She said: 'I know the Ballard tribe. I knew it, when I was

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The Science Of A Long Life Valentin Fuster Josep Corbella

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The Science Of A Long Life Valentin Fuster Josep Corbella

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