Aging: genetics, environment and dollars

One thing about life that is definite and for sure. It's all about aging. From the geological to the biological everything is aging or weathering from the impact of the environment and time. We often push such thoughts aside. Even with a rose bush, we cut off the aging blossoms, wanting mostly the buds. Sometimes we do things to try and hold onto the bud of our own lives. We fool ourselves about it until something happens to remind us-- like a reunion which brings together those who have not seen each other for maybe as much as fifty years.

Before we attended Farm Boss's 50th high school reunion, he got to talking to someone who had been to his 40th earlier this summer. He (still very fit looking ) warned Farm Boss to expect to feel shocked by all those already in wheelchairs. Like us, he had never attended one and hence everybody was still eighteen in his mind. He wasn't ready to think about the different rates at which we age and how we will face old age.

At Farm Boss's, there were no wheelchairs but was one walker which I think was from a recent hip replacement and hence doesn't count. There were some canes. Based on looks, if I had not known better by their name badges and photos, I'd have thought the people ranged in age from their 50s to their 80s. It was hard to believe they all graduated from high school in June 1961.

I thought it was pretty cool that the organizers had made name badges with the photos of the students as seniors. It was especially good for someone like me, who had known none of these people, to be able to see them now and a photo at 18. Sometimes I could still see the teen-ager, sometimes not.

So I thought about it afterward-- what makes some look older than they are or for that matter others younger? I came up with three things but there are probably more-- genetics, environment and dollars. I include in environment things like food supply, exercise, sun exposure, habits that might prove negative for a longer life span. I also recognize that looking old doesn't mean one will die any sooner than someone who appears younger facially and body-wise.  We all know of the skinny, regular jogger, who drops dead at 55; so looks aren't a criteria for longevity. They relate mostly to looks.

I can't evaluate the genetics of the people at this reunion as I don't know their parents or family medical history. I also don't have a way to know about their financial situation. Some came from a long way off as in Southeast Asia and Switzerland being the farthest but they were spread all across the United States. Probably though the oldest appearing hadn't gone far from their high school (just guessing), but I also talked to quite a few who hadn't gone far and looked quite youthful; so region wasn't a factor in it.

Where it came to dollars, these alumni had all begun their adult life in a middle class, rural/suburban community with very little poverty at least of the monetary sort and also very little (if any) extreme wealth.

The ones I talked to ran a gamut for what they did or had done from truck drivers to doctors and everything in between. Some were retired. Some still worked at physically demanding jobs. That didn't appear to indicate who looked older either. I actually didn't talk to any of the oldest appearing as they were sitting in lawn chairs, and I was standing or walking around except when we ate. We had brought lawn chairs at an email's suggestion but didn't get them out of the vehicle because it would have limited mingling.


So I don't know if being physically active there related to being physically active other places. Had those who seemed older been hit by some serious illness earlier which limited their  mobility? I don't know that either. I do know people who walk with small steps and move slowly appear older than those who can stride and walk more quickly. A stroke, hip or knee replacement can change that all very fast.

The reunion described earlier to Farm Boss probably had more people without much money (based on from where they came) than this one.  That could explain the wheelchairs there as if you can't afford to see a doctor in your 40s, don't get the proper medications for things like high blood pressure, your chances of a stroke are probably greater in your 50s. Even diabetes might be influenced by diet as well as genetics. By now everybody at this reunion had Medicare, but it doesn't cover all health problems as some cannot afford the Medicare supplement and run into a catastrophic problem where 10% is a lot of money.

Weight wasn't all of it either as there were skinny or fat people who looked older or younger. Some women, about half, dyed their hair but that doesn't make someone look younger. It just makes them look like they dye their hair. I didn't really see anyone I'd say had had a face lift or was using Botox although who knows for sure on that unless you have known the person a while. Makeup can make a difference for women as too harsh of makeup on an old face is not flattering. Think an aging Joan Crawford.

I don't think looking old before someone else totally relates to smoking or alcohol use as the ones that looked the oldest would surprise me if I found out they smoked or drank much. Actually the oldest looking ones looked like what I thought grandmas and grandpas were supposed to look like and did when I was growing up.

Of course, whether we look older or younger isn't really a big deal in terms of longevity. But being able to stay physically active might be. I don't know but the only thing concrete I got from this is that a number doesn't tell much about how old someone appears to be. I've thought this before though sometimes when I am being slowed in a grocery store by someone appearing much older ahead of me, and I realize they might actually be younger. Is that mostly complements of my ancestors?

A 50th High School Reunion album on Picasa