World's Oldest Identical Twins' Secret to a Long Life Is Doing Everything Wrong

Cynthia Dermody Inspiring

A story birthday cakeabout two elderly women celebrating their 103rd birthdays might not seem too exciting on the surface, but wait 'til you read more about the world's oldest surviving identical twins, Charlotte Eisgrou and Ann Primack, and you might think differently. I've decided they are among the coolest people on the planet. Why? For one, because they are still here. At 103! They look way younger than their 10 decades, I'd guess only 80 years young by their smooth complexions. And they are perfectly healthy, active, and alert -- even though they did pretty much everything that all the heath nuts and doctors said we shouldn't. So ha ha on them.

I'm not sure why this gives me such satisfaction but it does. Maybe because it's always nice to discover that the all-knowing medical profession doesn't always have us or our bodies all figured out, that there are still some surprises left that defy the odds and let miracles happen. Because lord knows we could all use some miracles in 2013. If the Eisgrou/Primack twins can live this long through everything they did, then maybe there's hope for the rest of us in lots of different ways, too.

The women were born premature on Christmas Eve, 1909, weighing just 7 pounds between them. There were no incubators back then, so the babies were wrapped in towels and set beside a stove with the door open. What's that statistic about preemies having complications later in life and a shorter life expectancy?

These women grew up in the Flapper age, so you know they had to party pretty hard. They both smoked, because, hello, who didn't back then? But not a trace of lung cancer or emphysema anywhere. When their husbands were alive, they'd often play jokes on their friends by swapping husbands when going to temple, oh those dirty birds! I'm convinced having a sense of humor and laughing a lot is one secret to a longer life -- laughter being a great stress reliever, lowering all kinds of critical body levels.

They can walk on their own, even get up and down the stairs in their condos (nope, they don't live together). Not a day goes by that they don't talk to each other by phone. They even get hurt together! Both twins couldn't celebrate their birthday together because they were in different hospitals recovering from separate falls.

They don't use hearing aids or reading glasses, and even have their natural teeth. Geez Louise what is in the water they are drinking? Or I should say milk -- that's what both women say is the secret to their long life. Lots and lots of milk.

So there's a few good New Year's Resolutions for ya that totally beat dieting.

Do you ignore health advice when it comes to your bad habits?


Image via guy schmidt/Flickr

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