You Can Stop 'Normal Aging By: Dr. Henry S. Lodge - Parade Magazine Sunday Supplement 3/18/07

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(use it or lose it) - S.J.

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" The muscles control the chemistry of growth

throughout your whole body.

It’s the foundation of positive brain chemistry. “And

it leads directly to the younger life we are

promising,” Dr. Harry says, “with its heightened

immune system; its better sleep, its weight loss,

insulin regulation and fat burning; its improved

sexuality; its dramatic resistance to heart attack,

stroke, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis,

etc. All that comes from exercise. But let your

muscles sit idle and decay takes over again.”

MEN AND WOMEN

Two amazing numbers: 70 percent of aging, for women as

well as for men, is voluntary.

Dr. Lodge says there are three key areas that

determine good health throughout the next third of

life. They are 1) exercise – keeping the body fit, 2)

emotional connection – having important relationships

like marriage, family, friends, etc., and 3) social

engagement – staying involved and connected to your

community, etc.

Overall women age better than men. Unlike men, who

often get a little shaky as they approach their 60s or

retirement age, many women feel more independent, more

optimistic, more powerful. Freed from caregiving, they

are liberated to look at other, possibly larger

issues, such as themselves. They won’t shove their

husbands aside, but they will not lose track of

themselves anymore.

Men may be at the height of their careers and powers,

but they are uneasy, too, wondering what’s next. What

will happen when they no longer have the position,

job, or robe which defines them? For the most part,

women seem to see the situation differently.

One thing, few women have the luxury of wearing one

lifelong robe. They slip into one role after another,

juggling and doing the best they can. So after

whatever detours life throws their way, women are not

as likely as men to stew about what happens next. They

live longer and they live better because of the social

connections.

In the exercise arena women and men need to be

ferociously fit. Men need to be “fit” – women need to

be “strong.” Being strong physically makes you feel

better and changes your perspective on who you are.

Dr. Harry says men and women have basically the same

biology. The startling realization that hits you at 50

is that you can live 30 or more years fit and healthy.

The fastest growing population in the country is those

over 100 years. At important life markers, such as

turning 60, people are looking at starting a new life

with 30 years or more of life to live. This phase can

bring different challenges but can also be a

significant life phase. Culturally we think aging is

an end, but we have many more productive years to

live. Insurance companies make money based on their

calculation that you will live a long life. “A healthy

75-year-old can buy life insurance. You may pay a

little higher premium, but you can get it,” he says.

Most Americans are fundamentally healthy. “If you are

willing to put in the work, it can produce some

amazing results.”

TIME LAPSE

Dr. Harry started noticing the patterns of aging as he

observed his patients over the years, most as they

moved into their late 50s and 60s and 70s. Things were

happening. The annual checkups were like time-lapse

photography, “and in those jerky pictures I saw women

and men I cared about getting old at an alarming

clip,” he says. Many were sedentary, many overweight,

out of shape and pathetic. Some were getting seriously

sick with strokes, heart attacks, bad falls and bad

injuries. A number died, and the timing made little

sense. Dr. Harry knew he had not misdiagnosed them.

“My patients had good medical care but not, I began to

think, great health care,” he says. For most, their

decline and illnesses were 30-year problems of

lifestyle, not disease. But as his patients made the

lifestyle changes necessary, he saw in his practice a

big difference between those who worked and those who

gave up.

“The more I looked at the science, the more it became

clear that such ailments and deterioration are not a

normal part of growing old,” he says. “They are an

outrage -- an outrage that we have simply gotten used

to because we set the bar so shamefully low.”

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