Monday 19 June 2000

Pic of the day: Scientific American presents: The quest to beat aging.

Quest of the ages

The topic of this magazine is by its very nature fascinating. For millenia, humans have thought about aging and how to avoid it. Many strange attempts have been made to cheat time, some of them macabre and some ridiculous.

And yet, I find myself "clinically detached", to use a cool expression. In part, I have lived long enough to know that you can't beat aging. In part, those moderate gains that can be won, will not belong to my generation. Ironically, this is a generation that has the resources to throw at the problem, and are starting to do so. (For more thoughts about this, see Al Schroeder's article on aging baby boomers, age-challenged homes.)

There comes a point when, as the saying goes, it is not enough to run faster - you must have started earlier. Here's one glorious highlight from this packed magazine:
"Let's say, as some gerontologists believe, that a person who starts a program of vigorous aerobic exercise at the age of 40 - three times a week for half an hour at a time - will live two years longer than she might have if she had remained sedentary. Those extra two years are just about the exact amount of time she spent exercising"...

The approach that receives the most credit for being well documented, although less explained, is "reduced calorie intake" ... and we're talking about severely reduced here, people eating from two thirds down to one half of normal. Enough to not just make them horribly skinny, but so cold that they are freezing through the summer, as their metabolism slows down. This has been thoroughly tested on many animals and seem to work every time, so a few pioneer humans are trying it on themselves. I'm not likely to volunteer any time soon.

***

To be honest, old age is not high on my list of worries right now. I'd be so happy if I were having a midlife crisis now, because that would mean I'd live till 82. :) That seems so enormous to me, to live as long again as I have lived already. Don't know why ... I'm no athlete but my health problems have been rather minor most of the time. I don't seem to suffer from anything more than common modern stress. The folks at the hospital claim that I have the heart of an athlete, which I most definitely am not ... but I do at times forget myself and just walk up a hillside or a long flight of stairs and forget to stop every now and then to catch my breath and let my heart slow down. Usually I do remember it, though, and stop to pant.

I guess it's just that I'm not expected to be healthy, with a lifestyle like mine. I keep reading in all these popular science magazines and websites that I'm in the high risk group. Socially isolated, no sports, no sex, not touching, no pets, no active religious participation, and even slightly overweight. (Like 5-10% overweight, but hey, it is overweight.) Theoretically, it seems, I should just curl up and die. And feel very miserable while doing so.

I've been worrying about splinters. And ticks. They could kill me if I go out in the woods.

And then I take a walk, and there's this ... something coursing through me like a physical energy, again. I try to moderate it to keep it from ripping me apart ... there's this outline, larger than life, in my mind, collossal, towering. And for a moment I seem to be on the verge of remembering. Who I really am. And then I wonder: Am I only dreaming?

It fades, and I remember that I am old and burned-out, sliding downhill and picking up speed fast. I remember that I failed my mission in life, whatever it was, and that the race is already run without waiting for me.

Perhaps if I grew old, I'd have time to sort it all out.