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elleng

(136,071 posts)
Fri Aug 11, 2017, 05:22 PM Aug 2017

Stop 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 don’t change over the last half-century of life.

You don’t need to be a doctor to see that this is absurd. Just as we don’t 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” — don’t just differ in how they look and spend their days; they also differ biologically. As a result, it’s 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 body’s 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?

11 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Stop Treating 70- and 90-Year-Olds the Same. (Original Post) elleng Aug 2017 OP
Case in point... Binkie The Clown Aug 2017 #1
Hey Binkie? Fuck you! trof Aug 2017 #6
Look on the bright side. Binkie The Clown Aug 2017 #10
Health Nut! Ohiya Sep 2017 #11
My mother is 93. SamKnause Aug 2017 #2
I don't even believe that. trof Aug 2017 #7
You might just be on to something. SamKnause Aug 2017 #9
Denny's lumps those 55 and over in JenniferJuniper Aug 2017 #3
I got my first 'senior discount' at 50 at Shoney's. trof Aug 2017 #8
Like Jimmy Carter and Donny Two Scoops Blue Owl Aug 2017 #4
There is actual age and the condition of the body and mind which often does Doodley Aug 2017 #5

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
1. Case in point...
Fri Aug 11, 2017, 06:09 PM
Aug 2017

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!

Binkie The Clown

(7,911 posts)
10. Look on the bright side.
Thu Aug 31, 2017, 11:11 AM
Aug 2017

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)
11. Health Nut!
Mon Sep 11, 2017, 05:29 AM
Sep 2017

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)
2. My mother is 93.
Fri Aug 11, 2017, 06:27 PM
Aug 2017

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)
7. I don't even believe that.
Wed Aug 30, 2017, 06:20 PM
Aug 2017

It's not your REAL mother.
Her body has been taken over by aliens.
They're pod people.
Run.

JenniferJuniper

(4,547 posts)
3. Denny's lumps those 55 and over in
Fri Aug 11, 2017, 07:06 PM
Aug 2017

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.....

Blue Owl

(54,755 posts)
4. Like Jimmy Carter and Donny Two Scoops
Fri Aug 11, 2017, 08:14 PM
Aug 2017

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)
5. There is actual age and the condition of the body and mind which often does
Fri Aug 11, 2017, 08:31 PM
Aug 2017

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.

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