While as a secret to prolonging life it sounds just a little too fanciful to ever be taken seriously, I have the feeling that some people, names not to be named, in fact take Mr Cohausen's "discovery" very seriously: Johann Heinrich Cohausen, an 18th-century physician, wrote a treatise on the prolongation of life, entitled Hermippus redivivus. Amongst other secrets of longevity, it claimed that life could be prolonged by ... Read full entry

And following on from the workafrolic piece last week, comes news that hard working, conscientious people, may live a little longer than other people. Why? Mainly because they are so busy working they have little time for excesses and taking life threatening risks. Nearly 9,000 took part in the study to analyse personality and lifespan and lead researcher Dr Howard Friedman concluded: "Highly conscientious people live on average two ... Read full entry

Men who "practice" polygamy tend to live longer than men who lead a monogamous lifestyle. I'm not endorsing a lifestyle of polygamy by the way, I'm simply sharing the results of scientific research here. After accounting for socioeconomic differences, men aged over 60 from 140 countries that practice polygamy to varying degrees lived on average 12% longer than men from 49 mostly monogamous nations, says Virpi Lummaa, an ... Read full entry

Reaching 100 Is Easier Than Thought If you're like me and wonder how to get more done in a day, the answer may be to take the (real) long tail, or big picture, view and aim to live well beyond your average projected life expectancy. Would living to, and remaining relatively fit and sharp of mind, until you were 100 or older, allow you sufficient time to achieve everything you need ... Read full entry