Azeri Hills Hold Secret of Long Life
You can see for kilometers from the mountains where Allahverdi Ibadov herds his small flock of sheep amid a sea of yellow, red, and purple wildflowers. The view from Amburdere in southern Azerbaijan toward the Iranian border is spectacular, but Mr. Ibadov barely gives it a second glance.
Why should he? He’s been coming here nearly every day for 100 years.
According to his carefully preserved passport, Mr. Ibadov, whose birth was not registered until he was a toddler, is at least 105 years old. His wife, who died two years ago, was even older. They are among the dozens of people in this beautiful, isolated region who live extraordinarily long lives.
Mr. Ibadov’s eldest son has just turned 70. He lost count long ago of how many grandchildren he has.1 “I’m an old man now I look after the sheep, and I prepare the wood for winter. I still have something to do. “
A lifetime of toil, it seems, takes very few people to an early grave in this region. Scientists admit there appears to be something in the Azeri mountains that gives local people a longer, healthier life than most.
Miri Ismailov’s family in the tiny village of Tatoni are convinced that they know what it is. Mr. Ismailov is 110, his great-great-grandson is four. They share one proud boast: Neither has been to a doctor. “There are hundreds of herbs on the mountain, and we use them all in our cooking and for medicines”; explained Mr. Ismailov’s daughter, Elmira. “We know exactly what they can do. We are our own doctors.，’
There is one herb for high blood pressure，another for kidney stones，and a third for a hacking cough. They are carefully collected from the slopes surrounding the village. Experts from the Azerbaijan Academy of Science believe the herbs may be part of the answer. They have been studying longevity in this region for years. It began as a rare joint Soviet-American project in the 1980s，but these studies are not being funded any more.
Azeri scientists have isolated a type of saffron unique to the southern mountains as one thing that seems to increase longevity. Another plant, made into a paste, dramatically increases the amount of milk that animals are able to produce. “Now we have to examine these plants clinically to find out which substances have this effect,” said Chingiz Gassimov, a scientist at the academy.
The theory that local people have also developed a genetic predisposition to long life has been strengthened by the study of a group of Russian emigres whose ancestors were exiled to the Caucasus 200 years ago.2 The Russians’ life span is much shorter than that of the indigenous mountain folk — though it is appreciably longer than that of their ancestors left behind in the Russian heartland.
“Over the decades，I believe local conditions have begun to have a positive effect on the new arrivals” , Professor Gassimov said. “It’s been slowly transferred down the generations.”
But Mr. Ismailov, gripping his stout wooden cane, has been around for too long to get overexcited. “There’s no secret,” he shrugged dismissively. “I look after the cattle and I eat well. Life goes on.”
词汇：
herd / hə:d / vt.放牧
boast / bəust / vt.以有……而自豪
longevity / lɔnˈdʒeviti / n.长寿
Caucasus /丨ˈkɔ:kəsəs / n.高加索
Dismissively /dis'misivli/ adv.轻蔑地
spectacular / spekˈtækjulə / adj.壮观的
hacking cough干咳
saffron / ˈsæfrən / n.藏红花
indigenous / ɪnˈdɪdʒənəs / adj.本土的
注释：
1.He lost count long ago of how many grandchildren he has.他很久以前就数不清他有多少个孙辈孩子。lost count：弄不清楚，数不清
2.The theory that local people have also developed a genetic predisposition to long life has been strengthened by the study of a group of Russian emigres whose ancestors were exiled to the Caucasus 200 years ago.当地人已经具备长寿的遗传素质，一组关于俄罗斯移民的研究证实了这一理论。他们的祖先在两百年前被流放到高加索地区。genetic predisposition：遗传素质