Straightforward Fears

People don't fear being old, they fear being decrepit. The two are so linked in our culture, experience and education that any discussion of life extension is doomed without carefully explaining that you mean extension of healthy, vigorous life. "There's only one thing that scares me more than death. It's the thought that I might live to be 100. The idea that 60 years from now I might still be pulling my arthritic limbs and degenerating mind out of bed is daunting. The sagging skin, wasted muscles, false teeth and declining memory, vision and hearing will be only half my worries - will my superannuation last that long? ... I'm taking a deep interest in the science of ageing - know your enemy, I say. And as medical science improves, living to 100 may not be as terrifying as you'd think. .... Quality of life rather than sheer length is what most of us want. John McCormack has studied Australians aged over 110 and found all of them reported health problems from chronic arthritis and diabetes to constipation. ... Forty per cent rated their ability to do things for themselves as fair/poor. But only six per cent said they were not satisfied with life and only 10 per cent thought it was not good to live to 100." Healthy life extension means to use the science and medicine to come to separate "old" from "decrepit" - to choose to repair the damage of aging in order to live longer in wisdom, health and vigor.

Link: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,21944853-5001021,00.html

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