Upside Of Aging

Health Scams and Schemes

I was looking at a few books I purchased 5 years ago and more and then looked at a few more recent ones all of which were about health. I bought the books because they were at one time best sellers on the health and fitness market and I wanted to find out why people were buying them.

I did not trust the information in any of these books but somehow what they offered was particularly appealing to those who recognized they were getting older and weren't pleased with the results. Or maybe they thought they could do better if they took a different approach.

Socially Connected People Age More Successfully

 

It is becoming more evident that those people who are active with family and friends and who participate in clubs or volunteer programs tend to be healthier and happier.  

 

A recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health reported that staying social may even protect your brain from the often negative impact of aging. The study's sample of over 16,000 older adults demonstrated that the least social and outgoing individuals experienced memory loss and deterioration at twice the rate than those who were socially active. The study also touted the very positive benefits of combining learning and socializing.

 

My conclusion: it is important that you socialize, join your buddies on the links or chat with the ladies after yoga class or at lunch, but you also need to participate in activities to learn and develop new skills and update old skills.

 

The problem is that aging is often accompanied by a shrinking social network as friends slow down, succumb to poor health, relocate to warmer climates, or move to long-term residential care.

 

If you have few friends or many friends and you are age 60 or older, think seriously about getting out and making new friends. Local senior centers are a good source and they provide a range of social outings and events as well as health and wellness information. Your church can also be a source of support.

 

There is no definitive answer about why social networking contributes to aging successfully, but one of the probabilities is that people who engage in formal social activities become better problem solvers. They gain access to more information and get more advice about how to care for themselves. Well integrated informal relationships with friends, family and neighbors also provide a good buffer to stress and stress can be the underlying cause of many health issues including cardiovascular issues.

 

 

Ifyou have tips for social networking we'd like to know about them. If they work for you they may work for others. Scroll down to Comments and type your comments in the blank window.  Thanks

 

To your successful aging,

 

Ruthan Brodsky

 

 

Why Old Age?

I saw an article that was titled What Is Old Age For? but I like my title better.

I asked the Why question to friends and colleagues and the most frequent answers I received were we grow old to show that we are mortals, we decline and die and to know that wisdom evolves with old age.

I for one am not convinced that everyone who is old is wise but I'll leave that battle for another time.

When I ask others including myself, when do you reach old age, the answers are always 10 to 12 years more than whatever age the person is no matter how old that person is. For example, when I asked someone who was 75 how old is old they replied 88 or 90. One gal who has been ill for some time remarked that old age happens when you get sick. I thought that was a fairly wise statement.

People who paid attention to their diet and health and maintained a positive attitude in their younger years seem to move through old age more gracefully than others. I am a strong believer that we are going to get old but that doesn't mean we need to develop age related diseases and disabilities.

Even though I'm immersed in age related issues, it is still difficult for me to talk about my getting old …or being old. If I don't pay attention to my age, something often happens at a store or gas station that reminds me others don't see me as the age I feeling. They see me as older.

I think everyone agrees that in the U.S. there is a definite aversion to being old. The good news is that this aversion is not a world wide phenomenon. It is not in our DNA.

I have got to believe that the concept of aging is going to be a major conversational topic since people are living longer and have a better quality of life as they age. I'm trying to remember the figure I read in an AARP article which was something like 1 in 3 workers are now over 50 years old. That is a meaningful figure.

I like getting old because it means I get to see my grandkids, play another round of golf, help someone else put together and market their business. You have to be living to grow old!

The other thing I like about growing old is I don't have to encourage it; it is natural. I don't need money or surgery to be old. It is a gradual process so I can get use to it as it takes place.

The theories of how we age are usually based on physical characteristics. What a surprise it must have been to the experts when the research recently proclaimed that our brain continues to create neurons and connections between cells as we age. You can teach an old dog new tricks!

I think that if science and medicine focused on something other than decline they could arrive at a new definition of aging that wouldn't be as unacceptable as it is now. I believe aging has a purpose. We're just not looking in the right places.

Besides, when else can you get a senior discount?

To your successful aging.

Ruthan Brodsky