Aging Wisely

BY CYNTHIA MCFARLAND

Nationally—and globally—the population of aging adults is growing. Research reveals that 8.5 percent of the world’s population is 65 and older. That number is projected to expand to almost 17 percent by 2050. Experts predict the population of those 80 and older will more than triple by 2050.

“In the United States, the population of those 85 and above is the most rapidly-growing segment of our society,” observes Michael Wasserman, M.D., a member of the American Geriatrics Society and an expert on aging.

For the average person, peak physical function occurs around age 30.

For some, though, age is just a number it seems. As actress Bette Davis said, “old age ain’t no place for sissies,” but that hardly means it’s all downhill after 30.

“Studies have shown that much of what we used to think of as the inevitable decline in muscle mass, strength and even aerobic capacity that begins in your 40s can be slowed—or even staved off—through exercise and proper diet. This ability to maintain and slow the aging process appears to be for as long as you keep working at it,” notes Wasserman, who has been a geriatrician since 1989.

“The best example is how proper diet and exercise can literally reverse diabetic blood sugar levels,” he adds. But the No. 1 thing anyone can do to improve their health, at any age, is not smoke.

“It drives me nuts when doctors prescribe cholesterol medication for smokers. That’s like trying to shoot down a missile with a bow and arrow,” says Wasserman.

“If someone smokes, to bother with all the other areas—even diet and exercise—is almost nonsensical. I say this with 30 years of experience in caring for people in their 80s and above. It is rare for me to meet 80 and 90 year olds who were smokers. If you smoke, you will probably not live into your 80s or beyond.

“Your 40s, 50s and 60s are really the decades to do everything you can to take better care of yourself,” Wasserman emphasizes. “Treat what has to be treated, but try to reverse what can be changed.”