I’m The World’s Oldest Practicing Doctor Turning 101 Last Month – Here’s My Number One Rule To Keep Your Mind Sharp
Dr. A practicing neurologist for more than seven decades, Howard Tucker, at age 101 and still treating patients, has issued his own prescription for staying sharp.
The Cleveland, Ohio-born physician has not slowed down in his old age and is still maintaining his professional life simply by postponing retirement.
He even added another professional touchstone to his resume when he decided to go to law school at age 60 only to pass the Ohio Bar exam seven years later.
His job involves solving problems and making tough decisions related to patient care, often using the latest advances in neurology that he is constantly researching to keep his brain busy.
And he has a healthy social life, which helps to maintain memory and cognitive function. He said he and his wife Sara, a practicing psychiatrist at age 89, often go out to dinner with neighbors and friends.
Dr. Tucker’s exceptionally long life is due in part to winning the genetic lottery, but also to maintaining a lifestyle that longevity experts who study centenarians agree is crucial.
At the age of 101, the spry Dr. Tucker was awarded the Guinness World Record for the oldest practicing physician
Many people find purpose and meaning in their jobs, and retirement can jeopardize that. That’s why Dr. Tucker still sees patients in his practice from 9 to 6 p.m. every day.
He even got a Guinness World Record for being the oldest working doctor.
Doctor Tucker told CNBC: “My job requires me to discuss a number of medical topics and think through issues. Keeping abreast of the latest developments in neurology keeps my brain busy.’
Preventing a life of free time after retirement, treating patients day in and day out, gives Dr. Tucker’s life a great sense of purpose. This sense of purpose is felt uniformly in the so-called Blue Zones, five parts of the world where people regularly live to a spry age of 100.
In a 2019 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers followed about 7,000 adults over the age of 50 and interviewed them using a questionnaire to rank their life purpose. The researchers assigned life goal scores based on the participants’ responses and followed them up five years later.
They concluded that participants with the lowest life goal scores were twice as likely to die than those with the highest scores.
Dr. Dilip Jeste, an aging expert at the University of California San Diego College of Medicine, recently told DailyMail.com, “Retirement is actually a big factor for a lot of people, especially men. Because the job determines the goal in life and when you retire, or if you are forced to retire, the goal is just gone.’
And even as the Covid pandemic put the world in a stranglehold, Dr. Tucker didn’t rest. Despite being part of the population cohort at highest risk for the worst possible consequences of a Covid infection, Dr. Tucker still saw his patients during the crisis.
He told Guinness: ‘I really love what I do, so going to the hospital to treat my patients was a no-brainer.
“As a doctor, it is my responsibility to take care of my patients. Of course I took the necessary precautions to stay safe and protect myself, but I still went to work like any other day.”
Dr. Tucker and his wife Sara, who is still a practicing psychiatrist at age 89, maintain a healthy social circle and enjoy going out to try new restaurants with friends and family. The couple is pictured here on their wedding day in 1957
Being social is also crucial to healthy living and aging. People with strong social connections tend to live longer and healthier lives. They also have one 50 percent more likely of survival than those with weaker social relationships.
Dr. Tucker said, “Unfortunately, at my age many of my closest friends, relatives and colleagues have passed away. But I am fortunate that my job has allowed me to build relationships with younger colleagues.
“We have dinner with my daughter and her husband and my son and his wife at least twice a week. We also like to try out new restaurants with friends and colleagues.’
The benefits of maintaining a social life stem from the fact that people are inherently dependent on relationships with other people. A sense of community, especially in old age, is paramount.
According to Dr. Carolyn Aldwin, the director of the Center for Healthy Aging Research at Oregon State University, “If you go to a metropolitan area or a small town, for example, you might find a donut shop where older adults congregate every day.
‘Being well connected with society is very important.’
Dr. Tucker is also an avid reader, going beyond academic papers and clinical studies touting the latest advances in neurology. He also gobbles up mystery novels and biographies.
Immersing yourself in a good book, fiction or non-fiction, requires your brain to process a ton of new information. I believe this is the key to keeping your mind sharp,” he said.
Dr. Tucker apparently has no plans to retire any time soon. When Guinness asked him about this last year, the doctor said firmly: ‘Gee no!’
He added, “I believe retirement is the enemy of longevity. Even in my younger years I never thought about retirement.’