Age Is Not A Disease

This blog is prompted by an article I recently read, "Is aging a disease? Treating it like one could be worth trillions, study says," by Hannah CritchfieldTimes staff

I'm old enough to remember when childbirth was also considered a "disease".  Doctors, usually men in those days, did not think women needed to know anything about the birthing process.  Midwives had been pushed out.  Women were given an anesthetic that caused the mothers to bang their heads. To "treat" this, the delivering women were given football helmets to wear! 

The Lamaze Method was really a revolt in answer to this revolting scenario. Childbirth today is much more individualized, humane, with mothers who are knowledgeable about what is happening.  Midwives and Dullahs are back in the process. Childbirth is not a disease.

Old age is no more a disease than pregnancy or childbirth.  I know this both from 50 years of working with seniors and as one experiencing age myself.  Old age is a stage of life only.  Like any other life stage, people can develop diseases. Some conditions are the result of genetics. Many are the result of lifestyle choices or environmental factors.  Some conditions resulted from poor medical management.  Younger people could also have diseases for any of these same reasons.  Healthy people of any age will perform better for longer; including seniors. 

The change in old age is a loss of resilience.  I compensate for that by modifying my lifestyle and paying attention to changes.  I jump on anything I see immediately.  This country MUST change to a medical management model, aimed at early intervention and prevention.  Such a model begins at birth to be most effective.  Waiting until old age, then labeling that stage a disease, is the wrong term: it should be labeled our society's failure!

As one of the women who wanted to be in charge of the births of my two children, I declare war on anyone who wants to turn yet another natural life process into a disease!!  We burnt the long line bras, (and draft cards) we fought rules requiring us to get a man to co-sign our home loans, we demanded the right to run for office; not for coffee.  76-78 million of us will not accept being declared a disease!!   As we march into our future, more and more of those who live longest will be women.  We are the women (and men) who said "No" to many things; this will be the next one.  We may be older and wider, but our spirit hasn't died. 

Instead, recognize us as the pioneers in a demographic revolution. This is the first time in history we have had so many people living to such later ages.  We've had babies for millennia; we haven't had as many elders.  We are designing this pathway in life.  Composing a new future means rewriting some other parts of life: since life's horizon is longer, how do we help younger people to plan for a 3rd age?  What role do we assign to elders?  Golf for 40 years? No way!

In my 50 years of work, I saw these things helped older people to remain healthy and functional; Purpose, Meaning, Connection, and Value. Therefore, we are seekers after these things.  That is the only label I will accept.