Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity

Mrs. L. R. is one of the two 98-year-old patients Topol introduces in Chapter 1 to illustrate divergent models of longevity. She defied her family’s history of early mortality by staying healthy and physically functional enough to live independently, maintain friendships, and cultivate artistic pursuits well into her late 90s. Even after the loss of her husband, she reestablished social ties through a supportive community of artists. When Topol examined her, he discovered only minor cardiac issues that were easily treated.

Mrs. L. R. thus represents the phenomenon of “super aging,” or thriving into old age with minimal illness. Importantly, her health could not be traced to genetics or advanced medical interventions. Instead, her life suggests the interplay of resilience, social connection, and sheer chance. By opening the book with her story, Topol sets the stage for his exploration of the determinants of health span, showing that extraordinary longevity sometimes resists straightforward explanation. Mrs. L. R. becomes both a human face for the scientific puzzle and an emblem of what readers might hope to achieve.

In contrast to Mrs. L. R., Mr. R. P. lived to 98 through repeated reliance on medical innovation. Beginning in his 70s, he underwent bypass surgery, stenting, ablations for atrial fibrillation, and shoulder replacement surgery that triggered a small heart attack.