Even the Furniture Circassians Use Contributes to Their Longer Life Expectancy, KBR Researchers Say

Paul Goble

            Staunton, June 10 – New research by scholars at the Kabardino-Balkaria State University finds that the cultural code of the Circassians – the Adyge Khaze – the clothes they wear, and even the furniture they have traditionally used contributes to longer life expectancy -- including an unusual number of centenarians among them.

            The North Caucasus is famous for the number of people who live to great age, and many have offered their theories as to why that is so. (My personal favorite is a cartoon showing an older North Caucasian in traditional dress who, when asked how he has lived so long, replies that it is because he has never criticized the state.)

            But now scholars at the KBR University have offered a more scientifically-based explanation. They say that “an enormous role” is played by their cultural traditions, which include behavior, dress and even furniture (kbsu.ru/podrazdelenija/fakultety/meditsinskij-fakultet/news/uchenyj-kbgu-vyvel-formulu-dolgoletija-iz-tradicionnogo-byta-adygov/).

            The researchers say that perhaps the most important of these factors is the cultural code of the Circassians, which urges harmonious relations among people, respect for the elderly, patience and even minimalism in behavior. But other factors are at work including clothing that leaves much of the body free and furniture.

            According to these medical investigators, the stools and low tables Circassians traditionally use discourage people from sitting too long at meals and thus helps them avoid obesity and other diseases. The experts said that they recommend that members of other nations follow these same traditions.