Something's Rotten in the State of Aging (Updated)

While sitting around in a reception area a while ago, I had enough time on my hands to read through several magazine articles.  I didn’t take notes, so won’t be citing any references here, but one of the articles I read was written about a book which was written by two male doctors about health after age 50.  One phrase stood out for me, as it was repeated throughout the article, and was a phrase I had not previously come across in any other article about aging.  The phrase really got the point across as it pulled no punches.  It was blunt: “At age 50 the body starts to DECAY.”  Well, I had never really thought of aging as a process of decay before – and found the thought more than a little repulsive.  I mean, I’ve read all about cell death and cell aging, and all the scientific aspects of it, and what to do to stay as healthy as possible: mind, body and soul.  I knew I was aging (which sounds like a gradual and graceful process), but never considered that I was actually DECAYING.  Yuck!  We’ve all seen decaying birds on the side of the road (but, presumably they’re already dead), or a decaying apple which is turning brown as it oxidizes, smelling somewhat putrid as it rots.

The solution to the body’s process of decay, according to the two doctors, is exercise, exercise, and more exercise.  The point that we cannot do without exercise was hammered home time and time again.  Slackers will end up bent over, shuffling behind a walker, dependent and most likely depressed.  Exercisers will end up vibrant, strong, independent and likely not depressed.  Their prescription was not the 2.5 hours of exercise per week as recommended in a report on CTV’s “The National” last evening, but was much more stringent.  The doctors insisted on 6 days - no less than 6 days - of exercise per week!  And, it must be for a minimum of 45 minutes on each of the 6 days.  Take part in walking, or running, or cycling, or swimming (or whatever else raises your heart rate to 60 – 80 percent of your target heart rate) for a minimum of 20 minutes.  Additionally, 20 minutes of weight training as well as proper warm up and cool down exercises are required.  (I have always been advised, however, that weight training every second day is more advisable than once a day, due to the fact that when we lift weights micro-tears are created in the muscle fibres, and these tears need sufficient time to heal.  Lifting weights each day may result in long-term damage to your muscles which would only serve to undermine the strength and stamina you are trying to build.) 

Exercise not only strengthens the body - it also strengthens the mind.

In some notes from a college course I took several years ago called, “The Learning Brain”, I came across some information from Richard Restak’s book, “Older and Wiser – How To Maintain Peak Mental Ability For As Long as You Live”. Restak wrote that the brain is designed to process knowledge and information just as the digestive system is designed to process food or the lungs to process oxygen.  If food, oxygen or knowledge is cut off, the organism dies.  Engaging in any activity that mentally stimulates the mind helps to maintain a high level of brain functioning.  A study of 1000 people from age 70 to 80 showed that four factors seem to determine which seniors maintain their mental ability and agility: 

- education, which appears to increase the number and strength of connections between brain cells,
- strenuous physical activity which improves blood flow to the brain,
- lung function, which makes sure the blood is adequately oxygenated,
- the feeling that what you do makes a difference in your life (described by others as having a purpose or a passion). 

In other words, stay active, engaged and interested in life as much as you can.

Other ways to keep your brain young include:

- reading,
- doing crossword or other puzzles,
- learning to play a musical instrument,
- singing, especially in a group like a choir, for example,
- dancing,
- learning a new language,
- fixing something you’ve never fixed before,
- patronizing the arts,
- hanging out with provocative, interesting people,
- socializing with your old friends and making new ones,
- doing something on a daily basis with the hand you would not normally use,
- pursuing rich experiences such as travel to new places of interest, or mountain hiking,
- spending less time in front of the television and less time in activities that involve prolonged sitting,
- rediscovering your carefree, playful self, and perhaps spend more time with young children,
- playing board games, bridge or chess,
- continuing to work - if you retire, treat it as an opportunity for beginning a new life,
- becoming an expert in something,
- taking courses,
- pursuing a healthy lifestyle which includes not only lots of physical activity, but getting enough sleep and eating a healthy diet, which includes reducing or eliminating the intake of added sugars as much as possible,
- avoiding drugs which negatively impact memory if you possibly can.

Staying biologically young sounds great.  Rotting, on the other hand, stinks.

D.