Have you noticed that at a certain age, usually starting in your 70s, your body starts to noticeably change? it turns out there is a scientific reason for this. A new explanation for aging has been developed by researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the U.K., who have shown that genetic abnormalities that develop gradually over a lifetime cause substantial alterations in how blood is generated beyond the age of 70. Researchers don’t yet understand why this happens sooner in some older people than others, but they hope to better understand the factors that contribute to this rapid aging process.
You probably noticed your changes much earlier than the age of 70. It probably started with that time you dove into the pool at the age of 60 and got a crick in your neck that didn’t go away for weeks. Or the year in your 50s when you had to buy bifocals because those drugstore reading glasses weren’t enough. There’s a reason why Medicare starts covering people at 65. We clearly need it by then!
Did we ever imagine we could get older without our body parts wearing out? All those images of older people leaping through fields of flowers in perfect physical shape are not realistic. It just doesn’t work out that way. There does seem to come an age when body changes start to pile up. You find yourself talking about your aches and pains like your parents used to do.
If there is some kind of inevitability to physical decline, how do you accommodate to that? Do you look back and mourn your losses? Do you wallow or complain? Do you blame your genes? These responses, although sometimes satisfying, are definitely a turning point in how we will live our remaining years. I personally do not want to be the one who always talks about her back pain, no matter how sympathetic my friends and family are. I want to look forward and not get swamped by the petty indignities of aging.
How to do that? Actually, I’m not quite sure. There are thousands of self-help books, but they tend to be cloying and unrealistic. The authors’ cheery exhortations fall flat with me. I truly do not like having other people tell me, in written or spoken word, what I should be doing or eating as I age. The only change I will ever be able to make has to come from me, and finding the desire and will to change old habits is not easy at all.
To make it more complicated, my genetics (and yours) are responsible for a major way that my body ages and reacts to what I eat and how much I exercise. Some research shows that people with “familial high cholesterol” have inherited genetic mutations that even diet may not be able to control completely. You may be able to eat bacon and sausage and maintain your low cholesterol; I may not be able to do the same.
Having said all that, taking better care of yourself no matter what your genetic inheritance is truly an imperative in your 70s and 80s, because the path ahead gets rockier. Here are a few ideas I have come across that seem manageable.
- Negative thoughts and stress – This suggestion comes from a spine surgeon, Dr. David Hanscom, who believes that negative thoughts and stress exacerbate pain in a significant way. He suggests you write down any negative thoughts you have — when you wake up or when you go to bed every day. When you have finished writing these thoughts down (preferably in long hand if you can, but on a computer will work too), tear up (or delete) the page/s and throw them away. Do not keep them. The idea is to refocus your brain and change pain pathways. It’s a simple and cheap experiment which may surprise you at its impact.
- Exercise! There’s good news here. A new study in the Journal of Sports Medicine and reported in the New York Times finds that walking just two minutes a day can lower your blood sugar! Make one small exercise goal a day. Maybe it’s just walking to the front sidewalk and back, or around the block – whatever is doable to start. It gets easier. The easier it is, the more likely you will do it. And you will get bored with these small steps quickly enough and move on to something more vigorous.
- The random acts of kindness thing feels really good. It lights up parts of your brain that may be underused! Tell someone they look nice, that their garden is beautiful, that their dog is cute. Bring something you cooked to a friend. Help another older person with a heavy package. If you are driving, let another person cut in front of you and wave with a smile. It’s super fun watching their astonishment!
- Make that doctor appointment you have been postponing, perhaps for fear of hearing something you don’t want to hear or just laziness. It was so easy in the pandemic to just postpone dental appointments or other checkups in order to avoid contact with the virus. It might take months to get the appointment now that everyone else is doing the same thing, but get that date on the books.
- Eat something each week you don’t usually eat — something healthy like berries or spinach. If you are cooking for yourself it’s too easy to skimp on nutrition, but bones don’t stay strong on their own. If you don’t like to drink milk, make a milkshake. Put a multivitamin next to your coffee pot in the morning so you don’t forget it.Will any of these activities drastically improve your health or prolong your life? Probably not. But they might take your mind off that decline you are experiencing.What ideas do you have for slowing the decline? Please share in the Comments Section!