Middle Age: A Few Facts And Implications "The more I learn about John McCain, the more I like his maverick spirit.
For instance, his critics say he's too old.
So what does he do? He keeps aging.
" Stephen Colbert, On the Colbert Report Aging is all the rage these days.
We have a few presidential candidates over 60 - one candidate in 2008 was a lot over 60.
Nobody since Reagan running for president was as old as McCain.
Our age obsession is fueled by Hollywood and by the baby boomers, now gaining eligibility for Medicare and Social Security.
Perhaps the nation is fascinated, as well, by the fact that I, too, am getting up there in years.
Whatever the causes, the consequences of and fears about aging are omnipresent.
Frankly, I'm sick of aging and may give it up entirely, go cold turkey and simply refuse to do it anymore.
I will, too, as soon as I learn how.
Who invented aging, anyway? When did it begin? If people have always aged, then why should we insist on making such a big deal about it at this time in human history? I read somewhere that the concept of an aging population was first described in France in the 1830s, due to concern among the leaders of that society about declining birth rates.
Leave it to the French.
Later, in the 20th century, gains in life expectancy in the industrialized nations led to fears of overpopulation.
Nearly everybody, except the kids of course, is talking about middle age, and what drugs to take to deal with it.
What is middle age? Nobody knows -- but that does not stop people from going on about it.
Ogden Nash said, "Middle age is when you've met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of someone else.
" (Thoughts Thought After A Bridge Party.
) Donald Robert Perry Marquis, who had too many names, remarked, "Of middle age the best that can be said is that a middle aged person has likely learned how to have a little fun in spite of his troubles.
" (The Song of Mehitabel.
) In any event, the growth rate of the 60+ age group (of which I was recently unceremoniously expelled) throughout the Americas is 3.
5 times greater than the growth rate of the rest of the population.
This is the kind of statistic that pops up all the time due to the focus on aging.
In China, watch out - geezer alert: By 2025, China may have 300 million people over 60 years -- nearly the size of our population today.
If everyone starts living a wellness lifestyle and participating in triathlons and such, we can expect that competition in the senior age groups to get really intense.
Most people in developing countries live in poverty, but they are less likely to die early than in the past because of environmental advances and medical interventions.
Also, fertility rates have been reduced by worldwide adoption of modern contraception, despite the resistance of primitive religious hostility.
These improvements hasten the demographic transition to an older population.
One concern about this trend is that the number of younger people usually drops as the number of older folks increases.
A shift over time from high to low mortality and high to low fertility brings this situation into existence.
Another term for an aging population is to say society is undergoing a demographic transition.
Another phrase of interest in this aging business is epidemiological transition.
This deals with the shift to chronic and degenerative illnesses as causes of death rather than infections and acute conditions, which are more likely to befall younger populations.
The good news for us is that the number of chronically disabled Americans aged 65 and over has not increased as would have been projected, based upon the increasing numbers of seniors.
A chart of the years 1982-1986, from the British Medical Journal (Butler, RN.
Population Aging and Health, 1997; 315: 1082-1084) indicates that we are not only living longer, we are also staying healthy far longer.
What are a few wellness implications of all this for you? Face it -- you can't change global or national population trends, you don't want to die young (and besides, it might be too late for that!) and you really can't choose not to age, so what is a wellness enthusiast to do? Live well, of course, and look on the bright side of life as much and as long as possible.
Recognize that older people commonly use more health care services than younger people, but try to avoid having to do that by looking after yourself everyday.