Book: Aging Beyond Belief by Don Ardell

If you plan to age, prepare yourself — it's later than you think. The challenge of aging well should be taken seriously, but not grimly! Whatever your age, it's never too soon, or too late, to learn and apply the fine art of aging well, really well. Discover what aspects of aging can't be changed and improve the rest that can. Mold your own realities with REAL wellness, Ardell-style.

The 69 tips — one for each year of the author's life — are thought-provoking, challenging, eye-opening, manageable and fun to read. And all provide practical guidance for intelligently designing your own life-style evolution.
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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Do You Really WANT To Live To 100? (Encore)

Thursday November 15, 2007

On November 15, 2002, I wrote that the oldest American recognized by the Gerontology Research Group, was Mary Dorothy Perry Christian, 113 at the time. She was born on June 12, 1889. Mary's reign lasted just a little shy of half a year -- she died in a San Pablo, CA nursing home in April, 2003 at 113 years, 312 days.

Would you choose to last as long as Mary, if you could choose such a thing? Consider the pros and cons, starting with the latter.

Mary's children died well before she did. Mary had lost her vision and was bedridden for nearly a decade in that nursing home. She was unable to taste her food or recognize the voices of her grandchildren. (Mary had 14 grandchildren plus 30 great-grandchildren.) Those are some of the cons.

The pros? Well, only Mary could tell us about the bright side, and I waited too long to ask. I think a decision about such a question has to come down to a matter of taste or personal choice. This is true not only for such a hypothetical question, but just about everything else, from the clothes you wear to the activities you pursue in retirement.

Mary Christian probably did not ever set out to be the oldest American, in fact, by the time she would have been in the running, she was probably too demented to know about it. Until a person gets to be about fifty, the light at the end of that proverbial tunnel is rarely seen or thought about, unless of course you have to deal with a life-threatening illness or injury. Children, adolescents and young adults hardly ever think about aging and death. Why should they?

For those of us over 40, an occasional thought about how life might be in the decade or so before checking out might be both interesting and constructive. Maybe a few vivid images of how it would be to end up as the oldest living American (or oldest in your city, neighborhood or block) might spark a few lifestyle reforms -- or a phone call to one of Jack Kevorkian's successors.

Glenn Cardwell included this quote in his book, Top Blokes Food Manual: "With proper care, the human body will last a lifetime." Just so. Of course, it will last just as long, that is, "a lifetime," with improper care, too. The difference is that a lifetime will be more pleasant in the later years with proper care than with dedicated abuse.

I recommend you maintain perspective when reading about someone who reaches 100 or even 113. An article in the October 23-30 JAMA (page 1974) sent along by Dr. Jim Mayr notes that humans everywhere are "living dangerously," either with too few choices or from making wrong choices. There are two extremes: On the one side, more than a billion humans are "dangerously short of the food, water and security they need to live" - a burden caused by poverty, malnutrition, unsafe sex, polluted water, poor sanitation or poor hygiene, iron deficiency or indoor smoke from solid fuels - or combinations of these hazards. On the opposite side of the spectrum lies over-consumption, with its risks of hypertension, high cholesterol levels, tobacco and alcohol abuse, and obesity." A recent World Health Report on promoting healthy lifestyles urges initiatives by governments "to dramatically reduce exposure to health risks in all populations if people are to live longer, healthier, more productive lives..."

Make no mistake -- we all want these outcomes. We all want to be healthier and to enjoy productive lives and yes, we want to live longer, too. But, how much longer? How long do YOU want to live? As long as Mary Christian? Or longer, perhaps? I wouldn't mind living so long, provided I could still do triathlons, enjoy great sex, travel widely and produce Wellness Reports - while looking good! (At age 113, I calculate I'd be preparing E-AWR issue #3,548 - but will these weekly newsletters and the essays here at the SeekWellness Wellness Center still be witty, incisive, profound, funny and cutting edge? That depends. It depends on whether you think they occasional reach such levels now, once in a while. If so, why not when I'm really old, assuming I have not allowed myself to go to pot?)

Next time, I'll report on a few observations scientists have made about aging, such as what causes it, how the body changes and, naturally, about how long you can expect to live. Assuming you don't get unlucky or careless and depart prematurely a victim of bad luck (an accident, for example).

Miss Alabama of 1994 said something about long life that seems a fitting end this essay. Asked "If you could live forever, would you and why,?" she replied, "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever." Sounds like a promising politician. But, she has a point, whatever that might be.

Be well. Always look on the bright side of life.

Domain: physical
Subdomain: appearance and aging

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