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How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

aging.nautil.us

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Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#31

Post by carbocation »

dahart wrote: post #18

Great article, this is the first one on aging I've read in a while that has it's head on straight and isn't trying to make weasel arguments that suggest aging cures are just around the corner. Happy to see a clear distinction between lifespan and longevity, so many people like to leverage confusion between those concepts to argue that medical advancements have improved longevity, like Ray Kurzweil does. > People talk…

There is just not much information about healthy living (though there is plenty of noise).

Observational data suggests that eating a diverse diet (but not too much food that you become overweight), being moderately active, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding smoking is healthy. Observational data can be confounded, but it's not like we have (or are likely to have) randomized controlled trials of different approaches to healthy living. (How long should the trial run before you decide that the null hypothesis is true?)

So, most doctors aren't going to have much to say about what healthy living truly is.

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#32

Post by GCA10 »

comboy wrote: post #16
GCA10 wrote: post #15

Time to own up to the elephant in the room. Medicine so far has done a really good job of prolonging people's seventies and eighties. All the symptoms of advanced aging that used to be compressed into ages 70-82 or so, ending in death, now can be stretched out from ages 70 to 98. Will this initiative double the amount of time that we've got the full capacity of our 20s and 30s? Or will it just allow people a prolonge…

You can have pretty much the same mental condition when you are 70-80 years old as when you are 20-30. But to have that you need to keep using your brain and challenging it. Old people usually have much less opportunity to stay mentally active. And less motivation. Statements above are based mostly on The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge[1] which I highly reccomend. Plus just listen to some old folks that y…

I like your optimism, and every octogenarian who can stay sharp is an inspiration to us all.

But if you look at aggregate data on chess players' ratings as they get older, or university professors' publication rates (and citations on the papers they do publish), it's really hard even for strong-willed thinkers to stay on top of their craft in their 60s and beyond.

For every Warren Buffett in business, there are a lot of Sumner Redstones ... holding on to power, but quite erratic as age takes its toll. Getting old is nasty stuff.

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#33

Post by olewhalehunter »

carbocation wrote: post #31
dahart wrote: post #18

Great article, this is the first one on aging I've read in a while that has it's head on straight and isn't trying to make weasel arguments that suggest aging cures are just around the corner. Happy to see a clear distinction between lifespan and longevity, so many people like to leverage confusion between those concepts to argue that medical advancements have improved longevity, like Ray Kurzweil does. > People talk…

There is just not much information about healthy living (though there is plenty of noise). Observational data suggests that eating a diverse diet (but not too much food that you become overweight), being moderately active, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding smoking is healthy. Observational data can be confounded, but it's not like we have (or are likely to have) randomized controlled trials of different approache…

There is a ton of information of healthy living, the basic level of health you mentioned, emphasizing fitness and lifestyle choices, is taught in most physical education classes through primary education to high school, but phys ed has been gutted since the 1960s, kids are staying inside more, and now even schools sell sugar drinks and high sugar meals. The role of the homemaker is now a cultural taboo, resulting in less home cooked meals and more fast food, so the standards for what constitutes edible food is shit, and for similar cultural reasons people are delaying childbirth beyond the window of fertility which results in poorer genetic and physiological outcomes for their children.

The combined total of the entertainment industry (keeping you on the couch for money) and the healthcare industry (money made from complications of staying on the couch), is something like a whopping 1/4th of US GDP.

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#34

Post by Bakary »

comboy wrote: post #16
GCA10 wrote: post #15

Time to own up to the elephant in the room. Medicine so far has done a really good job of prolonging people's seventies and eighties. All the symptoms of advanced aging that used to be compressed into ages 70-82 or so, ending in death, now can be stretched out from ages 70 to 98. Will this initiative double the amount of time that we've got the full capacity of our 20s and 30s? Or will it just allow people a prolonge…

You can have pretty much the same mental condition when you are 70-80 years old as when you are 20-30. But to have that you need to keep using your brain and challenging it. Old people usually have much less opportunity to stay mentally active. And less motivation. Statements above are based mostly on The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge[1] which I highly reccomend. Plus just listen to some old folks that y…

Maybe those folks were so sharp in their youth that their reduced mental capacity in old age is still a sight to behold?

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#35

Post by carbocation »

olewhalehunter wrote: post #33
carbocation wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is just not much information about healthy living (though there is plenty of noise). Observational data suggests that eating a diverse diet (but not too much food that you become overweight), being moderately active, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding smoking is healthy. Observational data can be confounded, but it's not like we have (or are likely to have) randomized controlled trials of different approache…

There is a ton of information of healthy living, the basic level of health you mentioned, emphasizing fitness and lifestyle choices, is taught in most physical education classes through primary education to high school, but phys ed has been gutted since the 1960s, kids are staying inside more, and now even schools sell sugar drinks and high sugar meals. The role of the homemaker is now a cultural taboo, resulting in…

> There is a ton of information of healthy living

Where is this "ton of information on healthy living" and what level of evidence do you have for it?

I don't doubt that there is a set of things that people can do to be healthy. I do not think that there is much information about what those steps are. Again, there is plenty of writing on the topic, but little information.

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#37

Post by paulcole »

comboy wrote: post #16
GCA10 wrote: post #15

Time to own up to the elephant in the room. Medicine so far has done a really good job of prolonging people's seventies and eighties. All the symptoms of advanced aging that used to be compressed into ages 70-82 or so, ending in death, now can be stretched out from ages 70 to 98. Will this initiative double the amount of time that we've got the full capacity of our 20s and 30s? Or will it just allow people a prolonge…

You can have pretty much the same mental condition when you are 70-80 years old as when you are 20-30. But to have that you need to keep using your brain and challenging it. Old people usually have much less opportunity to stay mentally active. And less motivation. Statements above are based mostly on The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge[1] which I highly reccomend. Plus just listen to some old folks that y…

>Warren Buffet 86, Chomsky 88, James Harris Simons 79

Wow 3 of them! And it helps to ignore the (likelihood of) older people who kept using their brains and now have mush upstairs.

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#38

Post by technics256 »

carbocation wrote: post #35
olewhalehunter wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a ton of information of healthy living, the basic level of health you mentioned, emphasizing fitness and lifestyle choices, is taught in most physical education classes through primary education to high school, but phys ed has been gutted since the 1960s, kids are staying inside more, and now even schools sell sugar drinks and high sugar meals. The role of the homemaker is now a cultural taboo, resulting in…

> There is a ton of information of healthy living Where is this "ton of information on healthy living" and what level of evidence do you have for it? I don't doubt that there is a set of things that people can do to be healthy. I do not think that there is much information about what those steps are. Again, there is plenty of writing on the topic, but little information.

We do, and it's called the Framingham heart study.

It's a landmark, decades long (began in 1948) research study that revolutionized health guidelines and what factors in death and heart disease.

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#39

Post by udkl »

dahart wrote: post #22
pavel_lishin wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I want to have conversations with my doctor all the time about routine advice seeking kind of stuff, but I don't because there's nothing wrong, plus it costs a lot. I assume you mean it costs a lot as a total package, including paying for health insurance. For me, my individual visit to see my doctor costs me $20 per visit, which I do not consider to be expensive.

Yeah, I do mean the whole package. I have a copay too and I maybe shouldn't worry about it, but I do have a fear that using insurance too much for routine stuff will bite me later. $20 isn't much, but the doctor's office charges $100 for that, and I'd love to chat like twice a month. I assume that I end up paying the full price eventually. As it stands I make it in once or twice a year. Even if I paid full price with…

Some insurers like UnitedHealthCare provide a free subscription to http://healthiestyou.com/.

HealthiestYou via UHC is a service where you book an appointment via their app and the doctor calls you back within a few minutes. You can book unlimited appointments at no additional charge.

You do not talk to your regular GP but you do get access to real doctors.

Re: How Aging Research Is Changing Our Lives

#40

Post by Razengan »

miloshadzic wrote: post #26
Razengan wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm making the cases for it! After all, it's the culmination of all medical research, whether intended or not. What happens when science "solves" aging and disease? What will we call the state where people just don't die unless killed?

Hell

It would actually be closer to the idea of a heaven in some cultures.
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