Aging
Aging is not about how many years have passed, but how much life you’ve embraced - Sophia Loren

image by: Kateryna Hliznitsova For Unsplash+
HWN Suggests
The Beauty of Embracing Aging
No one really tells us how we’re supposed to age, how much fighting against it and how much acceptance of it is the right balance. No one tells us how we’re supposed to feel when the body grows softer and the hair grayer, how we’re supposed to consider the creping of the skin or the wrinkles on the face that make our smiles feel unfortunate. The poet Dylan Thomas told us we should “rage, rage against the dying of the light,” that “old age should burn and rave at close of day.” He died, sadly, before turning 40.
Featured
A New Political Question: What’s Normal Aging, and Does It Mean Decline?
Sometimes, aging is a steady deterioration; other times, the fall can be rapid. Watching an older adult display signs of aging is all too familiar within many families, as are questions about what a slowed gait or confused speech signals, and whether an aging person can still, say, drive a car or live independently.
Aging is inevitable, so why not do it joyfully? Here’s how
I delved into the research on aging, and here are 8 insights I’ve found that can help us think about joyful ways to feel well as we grow older.
How We Age—and How Scientists Are Working to Turn Back the Clock
Insights into the underlying mechanisms of aging are revolutionizing the hunt for longevity treatments.
Why Do We Age?
A question almost as old as time. Life is destructive. Our environment and our internal functions all wear and tear at our body over time. Evolutionarily speaking, natural selection rewards those who can survive such hardship. So why don’t we live forever—why age at all?
Articles of Interest
Ageing and health
At the biological level, ageing results from the impact of the accumulation of a wide variety of molecular and cellular damage over time. This leads to a gradual decrease in physical and mental capacity, a growing risk of disease and ultimately death. These changes are neither linear nor consistent, and they are only loosely associated with a person’s age in years. The diversity seen in older age is not random. Beyond biological changes, ageing is often associated with other life transitions such as retirement, relocation to more appropriate housing and the death of friends and partners.
Aging
STAT covers the latest research and news on aging, from the biology of growing older to the challenges and opportunities of an aging population. Topics include the search for treatments for age-related diseases, the economic and social impact of aging, and the ethical implications of extending human lifespan.
Being Poor Literally Makes You Age Faster
Which makes you need medical care, which makes you even poorer...hmm!
Believing Myths About Aging Makes Growing Old Worse
If you’re alive today, there’s a good chance you’ve come to believe in a series of myths about the second half of your life. Start with the whopper: the traditional view of aging—or what I call “the long slow rot theory.” This is the idea that all of our mental and physical skills decline over time and there’s nothing we can do to stop the slide.
Can America Age Gracefully?
America may still think of itself as a young nation, but as a society, it is growing old. Thanks to falling birthrates, longer life expectancy and the graying of the baby boomer cohort, our society is being transformed. This is a demographic change that will affect every part of society.
Could protecting our proteins help us prevent ageing?
Existing theories on the chemistry of ageing are being turned on their head, thanks in particular to a small ultra-resistant bacterium capable of “coming back to life” after extremely harmful attacks. This is Deinococcus radiodurans, one of the most resistant bacteria known to date, which lives in arid environments such as desert sand. It survives in canned meat after the “shock” treatment of gamma radiation sterilisation. It can also overcome an irradiation dose 5,000 times greater than the lethal dose for humans.
Debunking the Myths About Old Age
Anne Tergesen joins the News Hub to look at why the saying age "ain’t nothing but a number" rings true for many older Americans.
Fear of ageing is really a fear of the unknown – and modern society is making things worse
For the first time in human history, we have entered an era in which reaching old age is taken for granted. Unlike in ages past, when living to an older age was a luxury afforded mainly to the privileged, globally around 79% of women and 70% of men can expect to reach the age of 65 and beyond. Despite longer life expectancy, many people in the contemporary west see growing old as undesirable and even scary. Research shows, however, that anxiety about ageing may in fact be fear of the unknown. Society’s focus on youthfulness and capability can cause anxiety about becoming weak and unwanted. Adverts for anti-ageing products are everywhere, reinforcing the idea that growing older is inherently unattractive.
Gloria Steinem's Perspective on Aging Is the Best Antidote to Feeling Weird About Getting Older
Sometimes we forget all about the good things that come with growing up; friendships that turn into family; heartbreak that's truly left in the past; adventures that are yours to plan and belong exclusively to you. And all the things we associate only with youth—passion, excitement, the joy of discovery—are all a part of Steinem's 80th year. Isn't that wonderful to think about?
Growing Old, for Better or Worse
Readers, including a 101-year-old woman, react to a guest essay by Roger Rosenblatt about the challenges of aging.
How gerontology, the study of aging, came to be
NPR's history podcast Throughline tells us the story of the scientist who helped launch gerontology, the study of aging, and how we started viewing aging as a disease.
It’s not how old you are that matters – it’s how you are old
Readers respond to a piece by Polly Toynbee in which she ponders how to put a number on old age.
I’m nearly 60. Here’s what I’ve learned about growing old so far
The end of ambition, involuntary grunts and a mistrust of bathroom fittings. All things to look forward to …
Scientists are waging a war against human aging. But what happens next?
We all grow old. We all die. For Aubrey de Grey, a biogerontologist and chief science officer of the SENS Research Foundation, accepting these truths is, well, not good enough. He decided in his late twenties (he’s currently 54) that he “wanted to make a difference to humanity” and that battling age was the best way to do it. His life’s work is now a struggle against physics and biology, the twin collaborators in bodily decay.
What is So Good About Growing Old
Forget about senior moments. The great news is that researchers are discovering some surprising advantages of aging.
What They Don’t Tell You About Getting Old
Old age isn’t what the books promised it would be. Literature is littered with old people for whom the years have brought some combination of wisdom, serenity, authority and power — King Lear, the ageless priest in Shangri-La, Miss Marple, Mr. Chips, Mrs. Chips (I made that up), Dickens’s Aged P, crazy Mrs. Danvers. In fiction, old folks are usually impressive and in control. In life, something less.
When does old age begin? Science says later than you might think
Today's 60 year olds don't feel as old as a generation ago. New data suggests old age is more of a social construct than an objective biological reality.
When Does Someone Become ‘Old’?
It’s surprisingly hard to find a good term for people in late life.
Why you might feel older than you actually are
Your chronological age, biological age, and epigenetic age can run on different timelines.
You'll Probably Live Longer if You Have a Dog
What’s better than a long life, free of disease? A long life, free of disease, with your loving dog by your side. It's no pipe dream: Dog owners have a lower risk of death than people who don’t care for a furry friend, according to a paper published today in Scientific Reports.




