grow older better

Tag: healthy aging

  • What do we know about active 90-year-olds?

    Almost nothing!

    This news clip is amazing!

    Knowledge about human health outgrew the size of a single textbook long ago. Today our understanding of prenatal health alone could fill a small library, from fetal wound healing to the effects of air pollution, X-rays, even methamphetamines on fetal growth.

    But if you are over the age of 90, the answers are few and far between.
    Ann Johansson/for The Star-LedgerHal Peoples, 94, lawn bowls at the Laguna Woods Village retirement community in Laguna Woods, Calif.

    The efficacy of dialysis for chronic kidney disease? Unknown.

    Heart surgery outcomes? Unknown.

    Risks from colonoscopy, high cholesterol or chemotherapy?

    No one really knows, even though nonagenarians are the fastest-growing age group around the world.

    Full article:
    http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/07/knowledge_about_human_health_o.html

    Why don’t we know? Because no one knows where to find healthy active 90-year-olds….it seems we only know where to find the sicker ones!

    In the USA, we have generally ignored the “real” aging population – focusing instead on our bias that all “old people” are frail, needing help and afraid of doing anything that may lead to getting hurt. So we only look at the frail, weak and less active among the older generations.

    We need to put a major focus on healthy aging and prevention..we are a country obsessed with disease and “cures” but the old saying about that “ounce of prevention” works for all ages. We say we have a health care system but we have a disease care sytem. We need to stop spending all the time and money on cures and start spending on prevention of the problems as well.

    As the article concludes:

    All the cures in the world…will mean little until we understand how and why we age:

    “Let’s say you cure a 70-year-old woman of breast cancer, but she’s frail, she’s in a nursing home and she has Alzheimer’s. Have you really done anything to increase her quality of life?”

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • Over 65? Not so healthy…

    According to the Center for Disease Control, nearly 80% of those over 65 have at least one chronic condition and about 50 % have at least two.

    You can go to the CDC interactive site and check your state and others HERE

    You can also view the information by indicators such as:

    Health Status
    Physically Unhealthy Days
    Frequent Mental Distress
    Oral Health: Complete Tooth Loss
    Disability

    Health Behaviors
    No Leisure-Time Physical Activity
    Eating ≥ 5 Fruits and Vegetables Daily
    Obesity
    Current Smoking

    Among the overall USA findings:

    20% of people aged 65 and older are obese
    Almost 33% are sedentary
    25 % of the women aged 65 and older haven’t had a mammogram in the last two years
    Almost 6% report mental distress 14 or more days in the past month.

    Interestingly, to me, it varies widely from state to state like for obesity – Iowa is high – 24% but it’s not the cold winters as as Louisiana is at 25% and Maryland at 23% and they are warmer in the winter…

    Check your state – it’s interesting.

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • Will you retire?

    Our lifespans have increased and our health is better. So do we continue to “retire” at 65? 70?
    Or will we take on newer careers at those ages?

    The median annual income for older women [ 65 and up] is a few thousand dollars over the definition of poverty level. And although we worked hard at women’s equality – we are not equal financially. Our income at over 65 is about half of that of a male.

    So it makes economic sense for women to keep working. I’ll always work – but it will not ever be 9 to 5. I’ve tried that a few times and it doesn’t fit my psyche :- ). I’ve changed careers many times…when I was 50 I went to law school and my son, who was then 11, wrote an essay about me that ended with “My mom is 50 and she still doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up.” His mom is almost 67 and still wonders what she’ll be when she grows up….I love reading and learning – but
    for now I’m content to do it on my own without collecting any more degrees….

    I’m more into degree-less work now….It its my growing older better psyche : -)

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • Money and growing older

    For many, there is a financial need to continue working after hitting the 60’s. For others, there is a desire to keep working until we are no longer able to do so….. One nice thing about aging is that we hopefully learn to work smarter and not harder.

    We are living longer and maintaining our health as we age…and for some, we are getting healthier as we grow older better I am in much better physical shape than I was when in my 50’s. , Maybe even better than when in my 40’s.

    So – do we keep working or not? It’s an individual choice – and depends on how much “better” you want to grow older : ). Full retirement with sufficient funds so that there is absolutely no stress related to money is great. But with increasing costs of everything – it’s wise to not totally count on what you now have if you are retired.

    I complain about corporations here: http://illegitimisnilcarborundum.blogspot.com
    but I will say here that they scare me. All they want is the moolah and the hell with the people. Yes I know this is not true of all corporations but too many have hurt us – like the pharmaceuticals, the energy ones, the oil people, etc. Their goal is to increase their own net incomes and those of their shareholders- they do not care about who might get hurt. [The Medicare part D doughnut hole is a good example.]

    Over the next bunch of postings – I am going to look at working and aging.

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • Still exercising

    Even as we age there are major breakthroughs in our physical abilities. I mentioned that I was into cycling again and recently I got over a major hurdle. Since I ski, my quads are in pretty good ski shape, but that’s not the same shape it takes to do a standing run on a bike…..So for months I was getting better at a standing hill climb but once we stared to go into a sprint or a run I folded and sat down – my quads screaming at me! I’ve hung in at the classes because my original goal was to be in shape for the Bridge Pedal in Portland this coming weekend – about 36 miles of road cycling over the 10 bridges.

    Anyway back to my breakthrough. This week I was able to stand up and sprint – and my quads were not screaming! I was amazed that I could do this..it was a sudden breakthrough too as I could not do this in the previous class…..

    The moral? We are never too old to improve our stamina, quads, energy or strength! We keep on going and we keep getting better. After all – we can grow older better.

    PS – I do sip on one of my sport drinks as I pedal and I take another after……

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,