Is age an issue in the presidential election?

Last weekend, the New York Times suggested that age was the new "combustible" topic enflaming people's biases and prejudices in the presidential election. The others are race and gender, as we've seen.

Said author Adam Nagourney, the issue is not just candidate John McCain's age but the voters' age as well.

"Many boomers, as we all know, cherish and chase youth, and many of them, not surprisingly, could be found at Mr. Obama’s rallies this fall, the political equivalent of a 50-year-old man wearing a baseball cap backward. Yet, at a time when many Americans live into their 80s and beyond, those who are beginning to contemplate their first Social Security check can simultaneously embrace the belief that they will remain active members of society for years, even decades, to come. For these voters, Mr. McCain may seem as much a barrier-breaker as either Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton."

The same day, an article by geriatrician Greg Sachs, MD, professor and scientist for the University of Indiana Center for Aging Research, welcomed the controversy.

"I see this as an opportunity to help encourage greater education of the public about aging, health, and memory issues in particular." And those issues, he pointed out, don't just arise every four years but are with us always.

It's easy to merely dismiss concerns about age affecting performance as "ageist." But Dr. Sachs reminds us that, contrary to the beliefs of a youth-worshipping society, age brings with it greater diversity. It's not all old people who tend to be alike: young people are more similar in health and ability. With older people, you just can't generalize about anything. Especially not health.

Aging carries real concerns. Cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney disease are found increasingly as people grow older. And so are alterations in brain and cognitive function. The latter is not an easy problem to address, as routine screening for cognitive impairment has yet to be found cost-effective.

Still, Dr. Sachs suggested, "perhaps older people who hold important positions affecting the lives of many others ought to have a more comprehensive evaluation on a regular basis."

Seems like a reasonable suggestion. For all of us, the ability to do the job should be the measure of suitablity, not age, race, gender or other factors.

What do you think about age and ability? Share your thoughts on this or other aging-related topics with us.

Doctor, care manager, gerontologist?

Aging is an interesting field in which to work. But messages about training for professions in the field can be confusing.

An aging population assures a growing “market” for the services of knowledgeable providers of just about anything aging people need. In April the Institute of Medicine predicted an impending crisis and verified what many have already observed: a shortage of geriatricians (medical doctors specializing in aging patients), nurses, and frontline aides skilled in the concerns of aging patients. Meanwhile, the New York Times is touting geriatric care management as “one of the most important professional roles in the whole health services delivery system” over the next 10 years.

At the same time, the March-April 2008 issue of Aging Today raises thoughtful questions in two articles about whether gerontology can continue as an academic discipline. The problem, according to authors Anabel Pelham and Robert Binstock, has to do with lack of formal accreditation programs.

Perhaps the problem also has to do with lack of clarity. Neither article bothers to define gerontology. Wikipedia says it has to do with everything about aging except diseases, which are claimed by the field of geriatrics.

I guess if you’re in the field, you know gerontology “belongs” to the human services side. But it would be a mistake to assume that others share that understanding. Pelham says that “gerontology can synthesize the field’s many realms of knowledge;” it would help the rest of us to know toward what end.

No fewer than four different programs certify geriatric care managers, who don’t have to be social workers, and case managers, who do. And no one has any trouble figuring out what it is that those worthy professionals do: the name is self-explanatory.

Gerontologists, help us clear up some of the mystery that surrounds you. We’d love for you to tell us what you do and what is happening in your field in Milwaukee and beyond!

A jug of red wine and 90 becomes the new 50

Eartha Kitt at 80 sets a tough standard. Image from Wikipedia

Is red wine the fountain of youth? I'm not suggesting that the divine Ms. Kitt relies on that elixer for her youthful appearance. But a handful of articles came across my desk today touting the potential of a resveratrol, a substance found in red wine, to keep people's hearts and bodies young.

All were based on two studies that found resveratrol kept aging mice healthy, middle aged, and slim in much the same way severe calorie restriction, a much less attractive way to maintain youthful vigor, does.

One of those studies came from Madison's LifeGen Technologies and the University of Wisconsin. (Barger JL, Kayo T, Vann JM, Arias EB, Wang J, et al. (2008) A Low Dose of Dietary Resveratrol Partially Mimics Caloric Restriction and Retards Aging Parameters in Mice.)

You'd have to drink a lot of wine to stay as young as the mice--the equivalent of 1,000 bottles a day. I'm thinking that after the first one, you might stop caring much.

The New York Times takes a balanced view, pointing out that the findings are interesting but there never is a panacea; that it's way too soon to understand what the research means for people; and that one reason for the interest is the enormous potential for a pharmaceutical company to clean up on this "longevity elixer."

The Reuters article focuses on potential protection to heart health.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution version homes in on the vanity angle, asking "is 90 the new 50?" and providing photos of well-aged celebrities such as Sean Connery, Kitt, and Sophia Loren. David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School, author of the second lab research report, admits to supplementing his diet with resveratrol. But he reminds readers that the most effective way to improve longevity is exercise.

I wonder what the desire for a magic fountain-of-youth pill that keeps us slim, healthy, and young without really trying does to the way we spend our healthcare dollars. And continuing to raise the bar for expectations of sustained youthfulness seems to serve product manufacturers more than it does the rest of us.

I don't know about you, but I'm having enough trouble keeping up with 50-something being the new 40-something!