"It's all downhill from here"---your brain shrinks, white blood cells are fewer, etc.

[young_at_heart]

This info is from "The Week", Feb. 22nd.

I recently turned 69, so reading all this wasn't exactly a welcome experience. However, I accept the reality of aging and know that there is no way I'd be able to handle the job of president. There are plenty of "oldsters" who have great brains and great bodies, but, like everyone else, they have to deal with issues of aging. Not much we can do about it!

Here are a couple of depressing tidbits:

Beginning at 40, your white blood cells, which fight cancer and infectious diseases, have a lowered capacity. Each year, more fat gets deposited in the walls of medium and larger arteries, causing the arterial walls to narrow. The weight of your small intestine decreases; the volume and weight of your kidneys shrink. Total blood flow to the kidneys decreases by 10 percent for every decade after the age of 40. Every organ will eventually get less nourishment than it needs to do its job.

Every decade after age 50, your brain loses 2 percent of its weight. You have difficulty learning things and you remember less and less. Memory per se—the actual encoding of information—isn’t diminished in a healthy, older person, but retrieval can be an excruciatingly slow process and take many more attempts. Older people are more susceptible to distraction, have trouble coordinating multiple tasks, and have decreased attention spans. In simple tasks and common situations, the old do fine, but when exercise or other stress is added, they often struggle. Perhaps this is why some older people, finding it harder to cope, tend to start searching for comfort rather than excitement.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

1. Mc4%Of BrainMassGone?

:freak:

[phantom power]

2. That's just perfect. I'm at Peak Me.

[knowbody0]

3. thats' why you smoke pot

so you're ready for your 70's, and can function., the first step is to make lots of lists to remind yourself who you are and why you're where. but clearly, you're in no shape to navigate a large ship through dire straights

[greenman3610]

4. not all of that is considered as true as it was 10 years ago

the brain is considered to be much more elastic than
we once thought, even to advanced age - but it takes
work, it takes thought, it takes one who is willing to
challenge himself.
Just check out Jimmy Carter - I heard him speak in the
last year, he's in his 80s, sharp as a tack.

[peace13]

5. I know a very sharp 99 year old.

All hope is not lost. Have some fun every day and leave the worries to someone else. peace, Kim

[trof]

6. I'm only 67, but I find that Scotch helps.

I know...I'm killing more brain cells, but the Scotch helps me not mind it so much.
;-)

[young_at_heart]

7. My husband likes Manhattans

I prefer wine, usually the reds.

[trof]

9. We'll tour Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island toooo....

It's lovely going throooo
the zoo.

Sorry, that just popped into my head.
:wtf:

[young_at_heart]

11. Now it's going through MY head!!

It won't stop----guess it beats thinking about the Stock Market!

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Lovely song, esp. by Torme

I like that folks in these small Southern towns seem to live a very long time.
Must be the slow life.
Definitely more relaxing.

[ddeclue]

8. So that makes George W. Bush what? 550 years old?

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[ismnotwasm]

10. Oh my.

All true, just more in some less in others. I worked in long term care for many years and saw an incredible variance in responses to aging. I do hospital work now, but LTC will always be my first nursing love.

I recently had an 86 year old patient complaining to me about the perfidy of men, particularly her last lover, met on-line. She got sick and he dumped her. She was pissed and planning his replacement. She was an incredible active person. Still skied and golfed.

Searching for comfort may be due to hormonal reduction as well. But part of me thinks it's plain common sense and a keep appreciation for another day lived.

All that being said, McCain strikes me as a deeply troubled, unstable person who has no business being president. Whether that's due to aging or him being him, I don't know.

[mizzuzmojorizin]

12. I vow not to become that person. Really!

Have you seen that charming video of the 99-year-old woman who is voting for Obama? She published her first book at 90! She had gone to college in her late 80s! I couldn't believe how sharp she is. I think attitude (as well as diet and exercise) is vital for one's well-being as a senior. I don't buy into the idea that certain things are just inevitable.

[Selatius]

14. Not everybody dies. The Highlander is immortal!

Connor MacLeod: I am Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod. I was born in 1518 in the village of Glenfinnan on the shores of Loch Shiel. And I am immortal.