Boomer Corner

My good friend Alexander Everett died in 2005 aged 85 on his ranch in Oregon. It wasn’t really a ranch, more like an Ark. Alexander just liked to hang out with animals, certainly not eat them. Hewas an educationalist and an English eccentric much influenced by Rudolf Steiner and Huxley’s Perennial Philosophy, who decamped to Oregon in the 1960s becoming a leading figure in the personal development movement that became popular at that time. As a young man he had been crippled by polio but claimed to have cured himself. He was, he told me a member of the 120 Club, all of whom committed themselves to live to be over 120 years old. Alas, Alexander didn’t make it. He died 35 years short aged 85, which is respectable.

Somewhere around the age of 18 or 19 our bodies cease developing and from that moment on the various body clocks that comprise what is us, start their remoseless countdown to our eventual demise. How long we last from that point on depends on good luck, our genes, our lifestyle and how much money we have. The process doesn’t usually start to manifest visibly until our mid-30s or so and, given good genes, psychologically we don’t usually start to feel old until our early 70s. Here’s what we’re all up against:

Chronic Inflammation

Aging people suffer an epidemic of outward inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, but chronic inflammation also damages brain cells, arterial walls, heart valves and other structures in the body. Heart attack, stroke, heart valve failure, and Alzheimer’s have all been linked to the chronic inflammatory cascade.

Glycosylation

Diabetics age prematurely, but even non-diabetics suffer from this chemical reaction, where protein molecules bind to glucose molecules forming non-functioning structures. Glycosylation is most evident in senile dementia, stiffening of the arteries, and degenerative diseases of the eye.

Methylation Deficit

Our cellular DNA requires constant enzymatic action for maintenance and repair. Aging cripples methylation metabolism causing DNA damage that can manifest as cancer, liver damage and brain cell degeneration.

Mitochondrial Energy Depletion

The cellular energy powerhouse, the mitochondria, requires a complex series of chemicals to maintain critical functions such as transporting nutrients through the cell membrane and purging the cell of toxic debris. Mitochondrial depletion lead to congestive heart failure, muscle weakness, fatigue and neurological disease.

Hormone Imbalance

Trillions of cells in the human body are synchronised to function by chemical signals called hormones. Aging creates hormonal imbalance that can lead to depression, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease and loss of libido.

Excess Calcification

Calcium ions are transported into and out of cells through calcium channels into the membrane. Aging disrupts this process and the result is excess calcium in the cells of the brain, heart valves and arterial walls that can lead to arteriosclerosis and Alzheimer’s.

Fatty Acid Imbalance

The body requires essential fatty acids to maintain cell energy output. Aging causes alterations in the enzymes required to convert dietary fats into specific fatty acids the body requires. The effect of fatty acid imbalance manifests as irregular heartbeat, joint degeneration, low energy, hyper-coagulation, dry skin and a host of other conditions.

DNA Mutation

Numerous synthetic and natural compounds mutate cellular DNA and cause cancer cells to form. Aging cells lose their DNA gene repair mechanisms and the result is DNA genetic damage causes cells to proliferate out of control, i.e., turn into cancer cells.

Immune Dysfunction

For a variety of reasons, the aging immune system loses its ability to attack bacteria, viruses and cancer cells. In

If not Immortality what about The 120 Club?

Who will end up with your books and your tchotskes,

your gadgets and your garden tools when you change aging humans, excessive levels of dangerous cytokines your cosmic address at the end of your life? are produced that cause the immune system to turn on its host and create auto-immune diseases,, such as allergies, It’s probably the easiest and least onerous part of your lupus, anemia, rheumatoid heart disease and arthritis. estate planning to make a list of all your possessions and decide who will get the stuff you have accumulated all these years. Will Junior get your porno movie collection? Your daughter might like some jewellery or family heirlooms; maybe your best friend would appreciate your gadgets or garden tools. You have made your Last Will and Testament? Good. That takes care of your estate, your possessions and financial accounts and settles your preferences. Or does it?

Estate Planning

Planning for the dissolution and distribution of your estate is not that cumbersome but you need to take a few things into account, especially if you have property or a foot in two countries. Besides the bequests and provisions your last will and testament should appoint an executor who will take care of administrative and financial matters such as liquidating bank and investment accounts, your pension or retirement accounts, ensuring your assets go to the proper beneficiaries, paying any debts or taxes. It could also include selling your home or terminating your lease. And with foreign property rights restricted in Indonesia, be sure you don’t leave behind a can of worms your executor will have to deal with. Even if you have little in the way of assets or possessions, you should have a simple will because if you die intestate the legal system in your location will decide who gets your assets, no matter how massive or meager. Things are more complicated if you are the parent or guardian of a minor child, have an informally adopted or sponsored child and there’s no document stating what you want to bequeath them or who will care for them after your demise. By the same token, are you making some provisions for your faithful staff who may lose their jobs and probably have no retirement or financial cushion to fall back on? Another thing to consider is to make sure that your will does not contradict the account beneficiaries named on your retirement accounts, life insurance policies and the like. The person listed as the beneficiary on each of those policies will get the money even if your will says otherwise. Make sure your beneficiary designations are up to date and sync with any other legal provisions you have made. It pays to review the beneficiaries on all your accounts. You may not be ready to die and in fact may yet have a long bout of life ahead of you but remember that things change, people come and go in your life and situations alter. Be sure these changes are updated in your will. Including your will, make a list of critical documents that the will’s executor will need to settle your estate like your insurance policies, bank and investment account statements, credit and debit cards, pension and tax documents and pertinent information like your Social

Planning for the End of Your Life Due to the popularity of Game of Thrones and the admiration of the Mother of dragons, Queen Daenerys Targaryen, the silver-haired beauty perhaps inspired the latest hair fashion amongst younger ladies to dye Security or National Insurance numbers and make sure you their hair grey. To me it looks a bit odd to see young tell your family or carers where to find them. This includes girls with various shades of grey. (Or perhaps it’s passwords so your online accounts can be accessed. Other Fifty Shades of Grey that has inspired this trend.) practical directives should address the paying of any taxes Why would you want to go grey so young? due, utility bills, recurring payments or donations. Any time a major change occurs in your life, make sure your will and I’ve noticed more last directives reflect it. and more famous actresses and End-of-life preferences singers who have gone grey. Helen Now that the estate portion of your bounty is settled, have Miran, Emmylou you given a thought to the other end-of-life decisions you Harris, Diane need to make while still, as they say, of sound and competent Keaton and Jamie mind? What about drawing up a Living Will that will instruct Curtis to name a your nearest and dearest how you want to be cared for few. Most males when you are no longer in a position to verbalise coherent have wisely gone thoughts? Remember there are very important instructions grey naturally like in regards to your end of life preferences that simply do not George Clooney belong in a Last Will and Testament since that document will and Richard Gere, still looking handsome and sexy. That not be read until after your death. is for men who have been lucky enough to keep their hair. Probably not many people have celebrated their sixtieth birthday without having a single grey hair. For those of us who started going grey when we were much younger, by the time we hit sixty our hair is pretty much grey or white. There comes a time when we need to make a decision to stop colouring our hair and go “au natural” or continue colouring. Just think of how much money we can save during a year. Colouring your hair with a professional stylist can be expensive, and although less expensive, home bleaching and colouring treatments can cause damage to our hair. The western way to do that is to draw up an Advance Directive, a legal and binding document that outlines your wishes if you become incapacitated due to illness or injury. It sets forth the specific life- supporting or prolonging measures you would like applied -or not- like resuscitation or CPR, or whether to end all life-saving measures. Your wishes should be written down and the document given to the people most likely to be close at the time of your demise. You should not leave these agonizing decisions to others. These instructions should include the type of care you wish to have, the medical team and the hospital you want to end up in. If you wish to be an organ donor here in Indonesia you can register with Komite Transplantasi National (the Unfortunately my hair began going grey when I was National Transplant Committee) or the Eye Bank (Bank twenty fi ve, a trait that runs in my family. But luckily being Mata Indonesia) ahead of time and stipulate that in your blonde made it easier to hide the grey. A few years ago directive.

my best friend who has been bleaching her hair platinum and keeping it cut in a pixie cut told me that she was jealous of my natural silver hair, that she was paying a lot of money to get the same colour. She suggested that I stop colouring my hair a light golden blonde and keep it natural. However, I wasn’t ready to give up colouring my hair, thinking that it would make me look older. But a year ago while watching a TV program I loved one of the character’s platinum hair with a bright blue streak on the side. This inspired me to make the transition, which could be done in one step of lightening all my hair and letting it grow out naturally. My hair dresser also gave me a very good cut that is fl attering in a controlled messy look. I do love the blue streaks which I think make me look funky and young looking. I often get compliments on my blue hair. For advice on this tricky subject I went to Max at Spoiled Hairdressers, primarily because Max is one of the most distinguished and experienced ex-pat hair dressers on Bali, with 16 years’ experience tending to tropical hair of all styles, colours and conditions. He explained that the transition from dark hair to grey is the most diffi cult, taking about six months, and you need to be committed to this decision. Using a combination of gradual highlights and low lights to blend in the hair, and slowly move lighter takes time. It’s vital to have a great cut with a shape and style and going shorter to make the change more natural and stay beautiful. Some people are lucky and have a sexy looking silver streak in their hair, rather than the usual grey temples. But when your hair is 50% grey it’s time to consider going grey gracefully or continue colouring. Unfortunately with the hair growth in these areas, your hair will need to be retouched every three to four weeks to avoid having unfl attering grey or white roots. This means colouring your hair approximately twelve to eighteen times during a year. This can cut into your pension drastically, especially here in the tropics where hair (and nails) grow faster than cold climates. Max mentioned to me that men look great going natural when the grey starts and are less in need of the colour appointments, but he does have a number of dapper male clients who come in and have subtle cover up with their regular cuts. Spoiled Hairdressers in Umalas have a special package for ex-pats to help you with your grey growth maintenance if you choose to stay colouring your hair, offering a package for six sessions of roots colour, wash and blow dry for 2.4 million. This will save you a considerable amount of money and keep your hair looking great. He can also assist with long term planning for a grey transition that will take away the stress of managing it alone. Because grey hair tends to thin out and become coarser as you age, it’s important to treat your hair with kindness and keep it moisturized. Using a good salon conditioner is a must, being careful to not apply too much and (very) gently combing the conditioner through the hair for an even distribution before thoroughly rinsing. Max suggests adding a little cider vinegar to some mineral or bottled water for a fi nal rinse to remove the hard water scale from you hair, leaving it soft and shiny. Using a diluted purple shampoo is also important to keep your grey hair from going brassy. Spoiled offer three brands – Alfaparf Milano with Never Brass and Grey Pride. They also have the Schwarzkopf Silver shampoo. Don’t worry - you won’t look like your grandmother who had purple hair, but will have soft and manageable hair with a beautiful shine. If you’re thinking of going grey gracefully then see Max for a consultation. He’s already helped many expats with the transition to age gracefully, and even enjoy it!

Your instructions should also indicate your wishes for preferred last rites, burial, cremation or repatriation preferences, appoint a funeral service and a trusted relative or friend who agrees to take care of all that. Also don’t forget to leave behind a list of family and friends you want notified. ‘Next of kin’ may not be near if you have Non-Digestive Enzyme Imbalance family in another country. Indonesian Immigration and Internal cellular functions depend on multiple enzymatic your consulate also need to be informed. reactions occurring with precise timing. Aging causes enzyme disturbances in the brain and liver, which result in And now for the big caveat: Remember that every country severe neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s or has its own norms and regulations when it comes to persistent memory loss. Impaired liver function results in durable health care and appointing a health care proxy. If toxic damage to every cell in the body. you plan to die in Indonesia you are well advised to inform yourself of the practices here. In fact, a quick survey Digestive Enzyme Deficit among a few Bali lawyers reveals that unfortunately, the

Indonesian law system does not recognise a Living Will. The aging pancreas often fails to secrete enough digestive However, you can draw up a private statement letter enzymes, while the aging liver does not secrete enough regarding your medical directives and wishes on how bile acids. The results are the chronic digestive problems medical personnel should treat you in case of a lethal many face as they age. condition. This statement letter only indicates your wishes and does not have the strong enforcement capacity like a

Excitotoxicity will. It behoves you to discuss these matters with your private physician now and see where you stand. The aging brain loses control of its release of neurotransmitters such as glutamate and dopamine, and this results In the end it doesn’t really matter - or does it to you? in devastating brain cell damage and destruction. Statistics claim that nearly half of people age 55 and older don’t have a will. I bet the percentage is even higher for

Circulatory Deficit not having a Living Will. Yet it is important to document your end-of-life preferences and communicate those to

Microcapillary flow of blood to the brain, your family and/or the people that are likely to be near you eye and skin is impaired as a part of at that crucial time. Putting a plan in place for things like normal aging. The result is that disorders medical care and funeral arrangements helps ensure that of the eye (such as cataract, macular upon your death, your wishes are carried out and that degeneration, glaucoma) are the No.1 family squabbles are avoided over your dead body. In age-related degenerative disease. Major terms of funeral arrangements, you can leave the and mini-strokes are common problems arrangements to a competent service like Antara Bangsa associated with circulatory deficit to the Funeral Services. Expats in Bali concur they are very brain. good and take care of the details. Oxidative Stress Don’t wait to put your affairs in order. Now, while you are Free radicals are unstable molecules that have been implicated in most diseases associated with aging. Antioxidants have become popular supplements to still hale and healthy and still have control of your belongings and the execution of your last wishes, is the best time to put some order in your end of life preferences. protect against free-radical-induced cell damage, but few Don’t wait until life’s inevitable loops throw you a curve and people take the proper combination of antioxidant beat you to it. supplements needed to do any good.

Spoiled Hairdressers. CNR Jl. Umalas Dua & Lestari, Umalas. www.spoiledhairdressers.com. FB Spoiledhairdressers Instagram. T:62-361-8475141

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The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com The Boomer Corner is a column dedicated to people over 60 living in Bali. Its mandate is to cover topics, practicalities, activities, issues, concerns and events related to senior life in Bali. We welcome suggestions from readers. E-mail us at : Baliboomers@gmail.com Copyright © 2019 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Copyright © 2019 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Copyright © 2020 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Copyright © 2019 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz Copyright © 2018 Boomer Corner You can read all past articles of Boomer Corner at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz