don's report archive

by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.

Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

You are only young once, but you can stay immature indefinitely.
Ogden Nash

Tomorrow is my birthday. It's a big one -- 65. At 65, I'm eligible for Social Security. I never thought the day would come. Well, I suppose I knew it would come if I lived long enough and the Social Security system did not go broke. Now, here I am, on the brink of middle age (always look on the bright side) and the money reluctantly contributed all those years is about to start coming home. Happy day! However, at the rate Mr. Bush is running up public debt, my windfall may be short-lived.

Social Security is not the only birthday present I'm expecting tomorrow from my Uncle Sam. I'm also going on Medicare! "Holy Moly," as Batman used to say long, long before he, too, qualified for Social Security and Medicare. Getting old (or reaching middle age, as I prefer to view it) is not so bad, in some ways.

July 18 is a pretty good landmark in history, as not much happened on this day, ever. Well, some great folks came into the world on this day. For example, Nelson Mandela and John Glenn were born on my birthday, so that might tempt me to think I'm hot stuff except for the inconvenient fact that, given 365 options, George "Machine Gun" Kelly and Hunter S. Thompson chose this day to arrive.

Like just about everyone else, I have mellowed over the years but, as Tom Stoppard noted, "Age is a very high price to pay for maturity." "How high a price," you ask? Well, that depends. It depends on a lot of things. Here is a beginning list of factors that affect how young or old in a lifestyle sense YOU will be at 65 (in other words, functional capacity, vigor and all that jazz) other than your birth year. Naturally, there are exceptions to all these factors -- some prosper despite hostile environments; some do poorly despite favorable odds.

• Where born and raised. Industrialized countries provide better prospects than less developed regions. The average life span in the latter can be as little as 35 years versus up to 80 in the former, so reaching 65 in any condition is unlikely if not born and raised in a favorable region in positive circumstances.
• Environmental factors independent of lifestyle choices. These include sanitation (sewerage), safety (accidents occur most among young males), water and air quality, control of infections and harmful substances, hygiene and, to a modest extent, the quality of medical care.
• The physiological and emotional aspects of living up to age 65. Hormone production needed for a high quality of life at 65 is affected by a lifetime of illnesses, diseases and injuries. It takes good fortune and more to avoid mutations that can accumulate in the cells and to minimize the wear and tear on tissues in weight bearing joints. Just imagine the panoply of factors that affect mental health over the course of 65 years!

When I think about all these obstacles, and the close calls I've had in athletics, airplanes, on dates and so on, I marvel at the sheer good fortune that accounts for much of the excellent health and relative youth I feel going into this watershed year.

Why, it's enough to lead one to want to look on the bright side of life. Be well -- hope you make it to 65, too, assuming you haven't already.

(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the PHYSICAL DOMAIN under the skill area of appearance and aging. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)

(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)

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