Between 1950 and the end of the twentieth century, although cardiovascular disease was still the number one killer of men and women, the number of such deaths dropped by half. At the same time, the study of cellular biology became more sophisticated. Better diagnostics and therapies stemmed from discoveries in biochemistry and physiology, such as the ultrasound and the CAT scan. Each development offered doctors and scientists the opportunity to utilize more sophisticated information about the human body. And as a result, in the West, human life expectancy got longer.
For human beings today, life may be getting longer still. We are starting to develop a much deeper understanding of the causes of many age-related diseases, how to treat their symptoms, and how to prevent some of these illnesses in the first place. Tests now exist that can screen for and accurately diagnose cancer and other chronic conditions before they progress to a fatal stage. Numerous medications are widely available to manage hypertension. And, just as we all now take it for granted that washing our hands is essential to limiting the spread of germs, there aren’t many people alive today who aren’t aware of the fact that smoking is bad for you.
It wasn’t an accident or a random mutation of our genes that bought us these extra years of holidays, vacations, birthdays, and anniversaries. These bonus years are the result of developing a better understanding of the world we live in and the dangers that are present. They are the result of the efforts of countless individuals striving at universities, hospitals, and other learning centres, all asking “why” every day. The knowledge we have gained over the past 150 years has allowed us to casually refer to our forties as “midlife” – and to be 100 per cent correct.
PLEASE TRY THIS AT HOME
Many doctors say that compliance is the hardest part of keeping people healthy – they can tell us to treat our bodies better or prescribe medications, but they can’t make us adhere to their advice.
Over the past several decades, public health officials have been working to raise awareness that habits like smoking, not getting enough exercise, and eating junk foods are unhealthy. Despite their efforts, nearly 20 per cent of American and UK adults still smoke. Nearly 70 per cent of adults are obese or overweight. Less than 40 per cent eat the recommended five servings of fruit or vegetables every day. These are all indicators that more people still need to hear, understand, and implement the message about making healthy choices.
The reality is that for a large percentage of Westerners, choices are limited. Cost, access to healthy foods, and education are real issues that perpetuate the obesity crisis. Many families subsist on fast food or processed foods, both of which are high in unhealthy fats and salt as well as loaded with hidden sugars and preservatives. One of our greatest challenges as a society and as individuals is turning education into action, and helping individuals remove the obstacles that make unhealthy choices cheaper and more accessible than healthy choices.
The bottom line is that our lifestyles affect our risk factors for disease. If our life expectancy numbers don’t continue to climb, and the next generation’s life expectancy is lower than that of their parents, it is going to be the result of what they have learned at home.
THE COSTS OF THE SILVER TSUNAMI
The ability to live longer, to spend more years on this planet and more time with our families and loved ones, is an amazing opportunity. But just as with any opportunity we seize, there are also consequences.
For the first time in history, there are now more people over the age of sixty-five than under the age of five living on this planet. Researchers call this phenomenon the silver tsunami.
The silver tsunami makes ageing a pertinent topic for every person, no matter when his or her birthday is. For most of human history, as we now know, people didn’t live to be very old, so young children tipped the scale of the population – there were always more kids around than old people. But all that is about to change, and it is imperative that we consider what the impact will be on a social and economic level so that we can figure out how best to navigate the coming tide.
The first wave of the incoming tsunami will be made up of baby boomers, who were arguably the first generation to fully benefit from all the advances of modern medicine. Everyone else will be a part of subsequent waves. And as even more sophisticated medical technologies emerge, science will likely push the boundaries of life expectancy once again. All that longevity comes at a price. Healthy adults will retire later, which means that the people we vote into government will have to reconsider retirement ages and benefits, and people who run businesses will have to change the way they staff their companies. Traditional hierarchies may be overturned. Many older people may find themselves taking lower-level positions, reporting to people who are actually their junior in age but their senior in authority.
Another thing to consider is that more living people will mean more ill people, and so along with increased numbers of older people we can expect that the cost of healthcare will increase as well. Not just for the government, but for private insurance companies, and for women everywhere. Why women? Because when it comes to caring for sick and ageing spouses, parents, siblings, in-laws, and friends, it is women who are most likely to take on the responsibility of caregiving. Sixty-six per cent of caregivers in the US are female. In the years ahead, more women than ever before will be called on to be caretakers for ageing partners and relatives, a duty that will cost them in terms of both their physical and financial health.
Women’s caretaking in the United States is valued from $148 billion to $188 billion annually. Given that the ability to provide care for others reduces the hours women are able to work by around 40 per cent, the total cost to an individual caretaker over time will be more than $300,000. It is known that long-term caregivers are likely to suffer the ill effects of stress, and are more likely to retire early with reduced pensions due to their reduced work hours.
The forecast for the silver tsunami is that it will affect all of us, and the impact will be personal and national, physical and emotional, economic and social and political, even environmental. Our planet will also pay the price as natural resources are stretched beyond limits to support so many more lives.
Did that forecast just throw a spanner into your excitement about living a longer life? Well, I urge you to take this information and add it to your own personal equation of how you’d like to proceed as an ageing human, and specifically, as an ageing woman – and then do your best not only to appreciate this extra time, but also to learn as much as possible about caring for yourself in the very best way that you can, and to encourage the loved ones that you are taking the journey with to care for themselves as best they can. I believe that is our smartest strategy moving forwards. It is the only strategy, really.
With the awareness that this wave is on its way, the most important thing we can do for our families and ourselves is to be strong enough to surf it.
SINCE SUCH EXTENDED LIFE spans are unprecedented, it makes sense that the study of the effects of longevity is also still in its infancy. The branch of the primary US agency dedicated to the research and understanding of ageing was born around the same time that I was, in the early 1970s. It was only in 1974 that the National Institute on Aging (or NIA) was established, one of the twenty-seven institutes and centres that make up the National Institutes