A question to think about

What is old age? Or - when does old age start?

I have taught life span development many times over the decades and it's a question that came up [and comes] up in college classes and now it's popping up among other populations - even among those who might be considered to be "in" their old age.

I have heard many 20-somethings talk about "those poor senior citizens" who collect social security. The "seniors" are often described as infirm, unable to work and otherwise to be pitied. These same 20-somethings most likely come into contact with those over 65 - who are still working, still active and hardly pitiable...but the 20-somethings do not see those over-65ers as being over 65.

So when are you old? Is it an age determination? or is it something else?

When I was a "young kid" a few years removed from graduate school - many of the local psychology professors were beginning to think and write about aging but few had really started studying it. One such psychologist jokingly said that only when we all got older would psychologists start really understanding older ages. I think she was right.

Studying older and aging populations is relatively new...and defining old age keeps changing...

Me? I hate the term "old age." It has no real meaning. We do not speak of childhood as "new age" or junior - so why label some as old age or senior? I much prefer "old fart" - it stops people in their tracks - annoys some and makes many laugh... I ask for my old fart discount when I go to a particualar store on what I call old fart Wednesdays - when we old farts get a 10% discount.

Ouch

I really have stopped writing to this blog - haven't I?

Spending too much time writing on other projects - but as a comment was left by a reader - figured I'd better get back to adding new content...

Since posting the article about food based vitamins v. synthetic ones, the company I am associated with came out with an even better food-based vitamin than the one I had been taking. I switched over to it as soon as it was available. And no you can't buy it in the stores - you have to buy it from people like me and my friends...I have many in my neighborhood taking this vitamin and other supplements - now we have what we have dubbed: " the Bridgeton vitamin club" and you can join us even if you don't live near me...all you need is a computer - and if you are reading this - you got one of those : - )

The vitamins were developed as most people don’t get the whole-food nutrition they need to maintain optimal health and these
were formulated based upon the fact that the most effective nutrition for human beings comes from plants. This revolutionary new supplement contains:

* A natural source vitamin complex
* Plant-sourced minerals
* Standardized phytochemicals

Just one daily serving of this vitamin, whihc is four caplets, can provide your body with the plant-sourced nutrients it needs to maintain optimal health.

If you'd like more information, I can be reached at 503-477-5550

Vitamins

For those who have been regular readers of this blog, you know I prefer "real" food to products with unpronounceable names in them....It's why I have been taking a daily vitamin that is food based - and not one "made" in a lab with who-knows-what in it.

I was alerted to an article about vitamins - which you can read it here

In short it's an article about food-based vitamins v. synthetic ones and contained information I was not aware of concerning the synthetics and the idea of talking in terms of milligrams.

It's worth a read if you take vitamins.

Healthy happy new year

Healthy living for the 21st Century

When we were young we heard what are called "old wives tales" about health and food...We rolled our eyes and looked at our mothers as if they were aliens...Now we are learning that our mothers were correct.

Maybe they knew what Hippocrates said:

"Leave your drugs in the chemist's pot if you can heal the patient with food."
"Let food be thy medicine, thy medicine shall be thy food."

Or maybe they read Maimonides:
"Let nothing which can be treated by diet be treated by other means."

Or maybe they knew this Chinese proverb:
“He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skill of the physician.”

Whatever knowledge they had - those old wives - our parents and grandparents - they seemed to know a lot about nutrition.

My mother was adverse to seeing a physician unless absolutely necessary - something I took note of as she lived to 95. She believed in eating well and letting one's body take care of itself. She fed us well and grew most of the vegetables we ate. But - and it's a big BUT.... the soil was in better shape when I was a kid.... and that was in New York City!

Today we have depleted the soil and no matter how organic our food - it is missing what it used to have way back when - and what is missing are many essential nutrients. The environment is more toxic than it was, food is more processed, and it is usually picked before it is ripe and very often cooked to death.

If the soil and environment have worsened, is there anything we can do to grow older better? Yes - we can supplement our diets with glyconutritional products.

“Glyconutritional products will play a leading role in the 21st century's emerging wellness industry. The driving determinant will be the growing realization that optimal cell-to-cell communication is one of the most critical functions of the life process and is fundamental to immune system health."

And if our cells do a better job of talking to one another, who knows what they can start talking about! So listen to your body now - it talks to you and tells you what it needs - and it can do a lot more communicating if given the appropriate equipment.

Newer equipment

I'm a skier so let me use a ski analogy. Skiing can be tiring and it's even more so with older bodies and older equipment. When I first skied we had leather boots with laces and very heavy long skis with heavy bindings. But I was a lot younger then - in my 20's and I hardly noticed how tiring it was - it was too much fun. As I aged - into my 50's - I began to think there had to be a solution to all the work the skiing knees do and I fell in love with what were called shaped skis or parabolic skis. I was the first I knew to buy a pair and it made all the difference for my body. The skis do the work! I'm into a newer shorter pair these days and will continue to monitor newer models of skis as it makes more sense to let the equipment do the bulk of the hard work.

At the same time I learned of the new ski equipment, I also came across new inner body equipment - glyconutrients. For sports fans, think of glyconutrients as the nutritional version of shaped skis, lightweight bikes or titanium softball bats. It's all about that new equipment helping us do what we do better and to doing it as we age.

The ingredients in glyconutrients are not "new" - they have been around probably forever and used to be found in our daily food - but no more. The ingredients have been re-discovered and combined into products; products that protect and nourish our cells and regulate our organs and organ systems.

Way back when we were in school the up-to-date science of the time was adequate for then but it was missing a lot of information we now know about. I know from my own field of Developmental Psychology that advances in technology lead to advances in developmental knowledge. The same is true of all sciences, including glycobiology. In this new field, over 20,000 articles have been written in a few short years. Why so many and why so fast? "This breakthrough discovery exposed the missing link that has the scientific community, health researchers, and pharmaceutical companies scrambling to get up to speed on this incredible science. "

Science and medicine have long tried to break the code by which the cells of the body communicate with one another in order for its complex functions to occur. Just as biochemistry is the chemistry of life, this mysterious code is the language of life. For years, scientists focused on proteins as the primary communication molecules. Early in this century however, a theoretical mathematician at the Weisman Institute calculated the number of molecular configurations possible with protein molecules and the number of known chemical command signals needed to run the body. She concluded that there were not enough protein configurations possible to supply all the messages. Another code was required - a sugar code.

Of the 200 monosaccharides [sugars] that occur naturally in plants, eight are known to be components used in cell-to-cell communication. These eight sugars are glucose, fucose, mannose, galactose, xylose, N-acetylglucosamine, N- acetylgalactosamine and N-acetylneuraminic acid. Only two of these, glucose and galactose, are commonly found in the foods we eat. The others need to be put into our bodies in the form of nutritional supplements.

Glyconutritional products will play a leading role in the 21st century's wellness industry. The driving determinant will be the growing realization that optimal cell-to-cell communication is an important function for the life process and is fundamental to immune system health. And - it is what will allow us to be healthier as we age.

Are you, am I ready?

Saw this article in the Times about caring for infirm parents: click here

It was sad and made me ask: do we have "real" discussions with our children about caring for us when we get infirm?

I have only one child and he is in college - he had been in the military....He jokes that I need to stay in perfect health for at least another 10 years so he can have a life...also he was born when I was 39...another factor to take into account these days. many of my friends had kids when they were near or over 40 - meaning that our kids are still young when we are getting old....

I do know that if I were to be infirm, he'd do what he can to take care of me - and the dog and the cat - [he knows how attached I am to my animals] but it would be a burden to him....so we just joke about it. That's easy to do as we are both very healthy right now.....But....as I asked are we ready? For me"no" is the true answer....

Happy New Year to all

Growing and growing obese

We are entering a new generation of obesity and now it's not just adults who are obese - it is expected that the number of children who are obese will hit 20% by the year 2010 - that's only FOUR years from now.

I heard or read somewhere that we are reaching that stage in obesity where this or the next generation of children will NOT have a longer life span than the parents...

Not only is obesity bad in and of itself, it makes all other medical problems worse....

I've been blogging about healthier children for a while now and hope the readers of this blog are among those who will not have obese children...It is something parents have control over during the child's early years...and good nutrition early on can never be a bad choice...

Please watch what your children eat and make sure they get exercise.... and eat well yourself and set a good example - kids watch what we do not what we say : )

My summer fun

What I did last summer : ) the 10 bridge 36 mile Portland Bridge Pedal. It can be done! I left the starting point about 7:30 and crossed the finish line about 4 hours later.... took some photos and stopped for water and fruit along the way. After crossing the finsih line I went over to the grass and took off my very wet shoes and socks - then met my son and celebrated with a great beer! Growing older can be fun.

Here are some photos:











































boy did that beer hit the spot

Summer - friends and kids

Having my son around and my schedule off a bit took some getting used to. Now we are both doing our own thing. He is working, playing and generally enjoying this part of the country - he'd never been here for more than a few days.

He's made new friends and caught up with some he knew from DC who now live out here. It made me stop and think again of friends. I stayed in touch with only one childhood friend - but she stayed in touch with others - so now some of us - the regular emailing types are back in touch.

I am in more frequent contact with friends from D.C. and a few from Vermont - but most from high school, college and graduate school days are gone. Sometimes I go onto the Internet doing searches and have found one or two but statistics say that "we" do not use the Internet as much as others - so are we never to get back in touch? I hope not...Many of my friends have moved around so it's hard to know where to look.

Hopefully some day we will all meet up here on the blog : ) or in general cyberspace.

But we all need friends - they keep us healthy - so if you lost contact with some from the past - make new ones wherever you are.

An experiment

My son, who has not lived at home in almost 10 years, is here for the summer between semesters. We had our obligatory arguments and actually we got his "space" organized his way. Luckily I have a separate structure known as a tenderhouse and he is happily settled in there. And now he is working part time and looking for more work to do.

I think I am lucky that we get along so well - but our long winded conversations - mainly about politics - have kept me up beyond my normal bedtimes and I am very off my exercise/work/fun schedule. I think we are past our rough spots and it will be fun and okay. But it's a learning experience. I teach about the lifespan and one newer topic is about grown children returning home. I shall have first hand experience about a piece of this - but I know it helps us both that there is a limited term to this arrangement. He will leave in mid August.

Having a child when you are older has some good points to it - I do things most others my age do not - because we had done them together - like skiing, working out, eating well..all the things have previously mentioned about how to grow older better. Although I read of women in their 50's and 60's getting pregnant; it is not anything I would suggest. If you did not have a child in your late 30's or in your 40's....find a child to play with - teens are okay but well they are teens - or find a young adult and go biking - hanging out with youth will help you grow older better....

Living Longer and Better

If we can live longer - do we want to? The answer for me is - it depends on my health and well being. If I am up and about, reading, able to walk my dog and continue exercising - well yes then I want to live as long as is possible.

How do I ensure that my quality of life will stay good? By preparing for it everyday. Back in the 60's there was a saying "today is the first day of the rest of your life." It's as good a sentence today as it was back then - maybe even a better one for this century as we need to compensate for the toxins we have added to the environment since the 60's.

I heard that people with Alzeheimer's have metal toxins in their bodies...as do kids with autism and ADD... Why not? It's in the air, the soil and hence the food we eat. Can we start geting rid of it in our bodies? Sure we can.. There are products that help cleanse our systems of these toxins - but we need to be more proactive and work on stopping the continuation of this toxicity.

New Readings

The other day I read an article that raised the possibility of our living to 150! That we are living longer is clear - but how long the human body can ultimately live is an open question - but one that needs study.

We have begun welcoming the so-called "baby boomers" into the aging adult group. What will we call the group of us who are living well past 100? Or those of us over 65 who are still active? How about the over 75's ? Elderly is now seen as a "bad" word - Senior citizens? Honored citizens? Why have names for groups at all? All names carry baggage in that they come with fairly negative connotations.

So what will today's baby boomers be called in 25 years? Elderly baby boomers? [ugh] Sometimes I wonder why we just can't call ages by the numbers : ) Are we afraid the number might scare readers and make advertisers avoid that group?

Then I read that the increased need for oxygen in sedentary adults in their 60's and 70's to perform the same exercise as a younger person is not a given. This result was changed by - guess what? regular exercise.

So putting 2 and 2 together - we can live longer and we can live better - but we need to take some control over our own beings.

Food for thought.

Snow winter and adulthood

When I was a child I loved loved loved snow...I remember the great snow storm of 1947 in NYC - which was just surpassed in 2006.... I loved running around in the snow, building snow forts and having snow ball fights.

This love of snow and winter took me to New England where I continued to love winters and lived through the blizzard of 1978.

Then many years later I went back to New England and started to dislike snowy winters..After a very cold spell out here in Oregon I think I have figured it out and it has to do with growing up and with the economy...

In New York and D.C. the snow did not stay on the ground very long. And in NYC my parents paid the heating bills and as all the moms in my area were stay-at-home types no one was concerned with snow days.

In Boston, there was snow but heating costs were low and except for the blizzard of 1978 - it was never a problem to get around.

In D.C. the snow is rarely around for any length of time and usually in small amounts. People there still panic at the thought of 1/2 inch so anything around one inch is a major emergency. But it melts quickly.

Then came Vermont - many winters lasted from September through June - or at least one needed the heat on at times during those months. And the snow? If it came in October or November it was on the ground until April and May.

As a skier I could go skiing but sometimes it was so so cold it was frostbite weather. Also the costs of heating had increased and as the adult I had to do the shoveling and shoveling and shoveling....

Now that I am on the other coast - I can go to the snow when I choose and I do that. Mt. Hood is pretty close, covered with snow and gorgeous! And when I get home, it may get cold and it may get very cold - but I know I won't have to wake up to the idea of shoveling two feet of snow in the morning. Yes the cost of heating is high but not as high as the East coast and winters here are shorter.

In my advancing older age I see now that my love of snow was the ability to go out and play in it - miss school because of it - but not to have to shovel it months on end.

I still love winter but have given up on the idea that I want to live in a very winter kind of place. The people who do that have my admiration....it's hard to deal with snow, ice and bitter cold for months on end... Maybe there is some good that comes of all that - but in my adulthood I have learned it is no longer my thing - it was a part of my childhood and my early adulthood and I can finally give up what I see now was a youthful fantasy - one I no longer wish to re-do.

Adultness

What are adults? Grown up children? Boring entities? Hmmm....Guess it depends on who is defining them.

When you were 10 - how old were your parents? Did you think of them as "old?" How old are you now? Is it near that age? And do you see yourself as old?

A friend of mine is turning 75 in March - I just had a birthday. We were talking about how old we were and why it seems so strange that our kids have aged but we had not - even tho we met 43 years ago! Yes - 43 years have gone by and there are markers to indicate that - but are we old? older? We laugh about this - it's an annual giggle - almost always on my and her birthday. It's become our January/March ritual.

I've re-connected with people I was friends with as a child and some from previous work situations - we all feel we are in better shape mentally and physically than we were way back when.. and looking at some old photos - it does seem true. Many of us have moved into different careers and lives than we had 30 and 40 years ago. Some of us have kids in their 20's and some have grandkids in their 20's.... at one point in our lives we shared a lot of similarities but now we live very different lives and do not have as much in common.

Yes adults do change - and we continue growing and changing - so after many years - there is a greater difference between adults of the same age than between children of the same age...

Changes

Do adults keep changing? Of course they do..it's only our kids who don't like us to change and that's only when they are youngish.

Can't teach an old dog new tricks? Nonsense. Who said that? Probably some young person who was mad at his parents or teachers and saw them as "stuck." Some people are stuck - but they need not be old - they can be very young.... Being 'stuck' is an issue n matter how old you are...

How about "You're never too old to learn"? I like that one better...after all I was a therapist and you can't do that if you think people are not capable of changing...

So why do many think of older adults as stuck and incapable of learning? Probably somewhere they met an older person who was not interested in change. Well - whether or not you are open to change is a personal choice. I personally believe that openness is a quality to encourage but I understand those who do not like change. When people get older they seem less able to adapt to major changes. I'm not sure if that is true only of those 90-year-olds I knew or knew of or if it's a 90-year-old "thing." But it has led me to discuss those issues with my son and it has led me to keep on learning and trying to keep up with newer technology.

Next on my toy list is an I Pod : )

Still growing :)

Oh well - the best laid plans etc... This adult took a mental sabbatical from blogging...I started working out and playing squash again and so forgot how to fit everything into a day...and then a friend from D.C. was in town and skiing took over - and more squash - plus a vacation to the Olympic Peninsula...

How did I ever fit in everything when I was in graduate school or law school? It seemed so easy then. And during law school I had work, a child at home as well as two dogs and two cats. Is it aging? I'm not sure...so much has changed for me in the last two years...maybe I've just slowed down to enjoy the scenery more. That's one I will have to really think about this year.

Anyway I promised myself [and my blogs] that I would be a better [ie more regular] blogger.

How are you growing this year? What new activities are you engaged in? What old ones have you re-started?

Let's keep the growth in the cognitive/artistic/athletic spheres and not the weight area....
That's a topic for another day.

Ciao

Adulthood

When I was 50 I was in law school. Actually went as a sort of sabbatical from psychology. I had an interest in things legal - i.e. I was a legal junkie - lived in D.C. and it was more or less unavoidable. So when D.C. opted to revive Antioch as a public law school - I went... Anyway the point is that around then my son, who was not yet a teen, had to write an essay for a class and he chose to write about me - I forget what the actual essay was about but it ended with a sentence like "My mother just turned 50 and she still doesn't know what she wants to be when she grows up!"

How right he was. Now I am 65 - I gave up both the practice of psychology and the law and went back to teaching and writing - activities I did when I was a lot younger - I also market glyconutrients... so am I an adult? To me I am still growing - still making transitions. I moved across the country too - away from all my friends and an almost lifetime of being an east coast person.. why? I was ready for another major transition. Will I stay here? Will I continue writing and teaching? I have no idea and that's what makes life so interesting - we CAN change and grow - right up to death I guess...

Welcome to growing adults

Many years ago I wrote a book called Growing Children and I loved the title for many reasons - mostly as it envisions movement, action and development - I like the "ing" form of words. Now I have started many blogs - all related - and all using the word growing - this one is about adults.

Q: When do we become adults?
A: Who knows?

Whenever I teach LifeSpan Development, I ask this question.

I also ask who decides?

Who gets to define the different "stages" one reads about... When you stop and think about it - you may realize that these labels change over time and the ages included in some of the stages also change.

I like to use the example of "adolescence." It used to be the "teen" years; then it was from puberty to adulthood [hmmm]; now the word is used to describe persons of many varied ages depending on what they are doing or how they are acting....

Part of this ages/stages issue is that we are living much longer than we used to. One of my other favorite other questions to classes is: "How old was Alexander the Great when he was out there conquering the world." He was 20 when he started his first war and he was dead at 32! So most of his life's work was done in his 20's..I am usually saying this to college students who in their 20's are in a classroom and still deciding what their life's work is to be.

So - to get back to the question - when DO we become adults? Is it when we finally decide what we want to be when we grow up? Or is it when we start a "real" job? Or when we take on family responsibilities?

Think about this and we'll continue next time... ciao