Seniors
Related: About this forumStop Treating 70- and 90-Year-Olds the Same.
*There are 17 subgroupings for children from birth through age 18. That makes sense because, of course, a 6-month-old has had little time to develop immunity, weighs far less than an 8-year-old and is exposed to fewer people than a teenager. There are five subgroups for adults. But all Americans 65 and older including the two fastest-growing segments of our population, the 80- to 90-year-olds and those over 100 are lumped in a single group, as if bodies and behaviors dont change over the last half-century of life.
You dont need to be a doctor to see that this is absurd. Just as we dont confuse toddlers with teenagers, or young adults with their middle-age parents, so, too, are we able to distinguish 70-year-olds from the nonagenarians a generation ahead of them.
Those two groups the young old and the old old dont just differ in how they look and spend their days; they also differ biologically. As a result, its likely that we are incorrectly vaccinating a significant number of the 47 million Americans over 65.
With advancing age, the immune system weakens (a phenomenon called immunosenescence) and chronic diseases compromise the bodys resistance to infectious organisms. Older adults are thus more susceptible to infections more likely to get sick, more likely to require hospitalization and more likely to die.'>>>
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/11/opinion/sunday/vaccinations-elderly.html?
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)I'm 72 and I jog, bicycle, swim, do heavy yard work, don't need any prescription meds, and am just as trim and active as I was 20 years ago.
My mom is 95 and needs a walker to get around inside the house, takes a dozen different prescriptions every day, and spend 3/4 of her "waking" hours sleeping in her easy chair.
What a difference those 23 years make!
Being 70-something and being 90-something are not even similar!
trof
(54,273 posts)People like you really piss me off.
Just sign me:
Septuagenarian and Slow
Binkie The Clown
(7,911 posts)When I was 50, and a carnivore, I was a basket case, with high blood pressure, pre-diabetic, sky-high cholesterol, unable to walk half a block without chest pains, constant acid reflux, depressed, overweight, no energy.... etc., etc. Then I gave up meat, fish, dairy, eggs, and refined oils. Within 3 weeks I started improving. Now: blood pressure: low normal, blood sugar: normal, cholesterol: low, etc. etc. My last case of acid reflux was the very day I went vegan. Now, 22 years later, I feel like a kid again. It's never too late to turn it all around. Meat is poison. Milk is poison. Fish is poison. Refined oils (yes, even the much hyped olive oil) are poison.
Ohiya
(2,432 posts)Actually, I think it's nuts not to think about your health. Congratulations! I am also a fan of Esselstyn. In 1989 I found The McDougall Plan at a Goodwill store for probably less than a dollar. I don't think I would have made it to this century if I hadn't bought it and read it.
SamKnause
(13,804 posts)She drives a Jeep Cherokee.
She uses a push mower to trim.
She uses her John Deere lawn tractor to mow 1 acre.
She just painted her shed that houses her John Deere and push mower.
She cooks meals for the church after funeral services.
She cooks and shops for herself and others.
She has all her teeth.
She had laser surgery and has excellent vision.
She is thin and feisty.
She takes medicine for high blood pressure and a thyroid problem.
She is amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!
trof
(54,273 posts)It's not your REAL mother.
Her body has been taken over by aliens.
They're pod people.
Run.
SamKnause
(13,804 posts)Tomorrow is her birthday.
JenniferJuniper
(4,547 posts)the "old" group! I know this because I went there for my hangover breakfast the morning of my 55th birthday and screamed when I flipped over my menu and saw the "55 and Over Menu".
The waitress then tried to comfort me by saying they let everyone order off that menu, it's just "lighter fare", but still.....
trof
(54,273 posts)26 years ago.
Blue Owl
(54,755 posts)Jimmy's 92 and building houses for H4H, and Donny's 72 and needs a golf cart to travel more than 100 feet...
Doodley
(10,386 posts)not correspond with many other folk of the same age. Creating rigid divisions based on people's age doesn't make a lot of sense over a certain age. It seems the author is over-generalizing people over 65.