STORY BYWe had poodle skirts, '67 Mustangs. and waistlines.
We trusted no one over 30, except Ed Sullivan.
Social security was ample; social diseases, remote.
We were lean, sunkissed and knew only one kid with polio.
Our knees demanded 1,000 jumps on the neighbor's trampoline
before the hunt for fire flies lured us away.
Who were we? We were America 's youth: The Baby Boomers.
Who are we now? That's a good question.
HealthLeader invites gerontologist Dr. Andy Achenbaum to explore our new identities.
Join us.
Human senescence (se-nés-ens) is the cellular process of decay. For plants, it's when leaves begin to fall. For us, it is the more lyrical word for aging.
Most of us assess our age by how we feel. We dread decline. A recent survey by the National Council on the Aging showed more senior citizens worry about their health (42 percent ) than their finances (36 percent).
“Senescence begins and middle age ends the day your descendants outnumber your friends.”Pollsters find that older Americans nowadays feel more positive about their health than did persons over 65 a generation ago. The New Aged try to stay healthy.
The percentage of elderly men (but not older women) who smoke has declined, reducing the risk of lung and bladder cancers and heart disease. The aged on average are less obese than the young. In contrast to the third of those between the ages of 18 and 30 who indulge in binge drinking, alcohol consumption among the aged is down, abstention on the rise. Unlike their parents, today's senior citizens are not couch potatoes. They walk, they swim, and they climb stairs regularly.
Not all health news is good. African Americans, women, and those over 75 are more likely to report poor health—complaints validated by their doctors. Chronic illness has become more prevalent as men and women live longer. More than half of all Americans over 80 report at least two chronic ailments, including visual and hearing impairment, hypertension, stroke, depression, and especially arthritis.
Since women on average live longer than men, they are more likely to report health problems. Disabilities acquired in midlife sometimes greatly limit functional capacities in late life.
Physicians are recommending increased medication for high cholesterol, asthma, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Almost half of all Americans over 65 take three or more prescribed drugs, compared to a third of all senior citizens a decade earlier. The number of drugs-not to mention over-the-counter remedies-increases with age. Those over 75, who visit their physicians or go to a hospital outpatient clinic, typically take five or more medications. Elderly women are more likely than older men to take anti-depressants.
Demography is destiny: population aging will change the delivery of health services in America. Extra years give the New Aged and Boomers unprecedented opportunities to enjoy life while continuing to make contributions to society.
As they live longer, the New Aged will require (and demand) a different sort of medical care than their grandparents received. Elder care involves extensive medical histories, selecting the right combination of high-tech and low-tech interventions-courses of action unnecessary for most younger patients.
In the months ahead, we will focus on some of the accomplishments of geriatricians and other health care specialists in improving the quality of life of older Americans. And we will examine remaining impediments. How will this young science, as it matures, alter the face of medicine for all age groups?
UPDATED: 1-03-2006
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Dr. Andrew Achenbaum is a noted gerontologist and visiting fellow at The University of Texas McGovern Center of Health, Humanities and the Human Spirit.
See Dr. Achenbaum also at:
Make an appointment
with your stress—
and keep it!
Set aside a specified time of day, say 3:00 to 3:20 P.M. Keep this appointment with yourself—make it as important as a client or a child’s reading time.
Now, let the stress pour out of you, all the worry, guilt, what-ifs, if-onlys. Hold nothing back. Imagine every possible scenario that intrudes on you, day and night. Funnel it into that 20-minute period.
When the bell goes off, you are done, finished, until your next appointment with yourself.
When you’re tempted to let stressful thoughts crawl across your mind, remind yourself that you have 20 minutes to address them—tomorrow.
