British Politics Must Be Rougher
Michael Howard, the leader of the Conservative Party in Britain for 18 months, decided to begin the process of stepping down from his post after his party lost the May 5 election, the third straight defeat for the Tories. “I am 63 years old,” he said. “At the time of the next general election in four or five years’ time, I will be 67 or 68 years old, and I believe that is simply too old to lead the party into government.”
Ronald Reagan, at just shy of 70 the day he took office in 1981, was the oldest person ever elected U.S. president. He made it through two terms.
British politics is more rough-and-tumble than the United States version. Candidates for Parliament face withering questions from both public and press, unlike the somewhat more controlled campaign events favored here.
Cancer Up With Longevity
Increases in life expectancy around the world have led to increases in some cancers as well, the International Agency for Research on Cancer has reported. Breast and lung cancers have doubled over the past 30 years, with 1.1 million women around the world diagnosed with breast cancer last year.
Stomach and cervical cancers have actually decreased thanks to improvements in hygiene and routine screening, Reuters reports.
With the number of smokers up in the Third World the past 20 years, lung cancer rates can be expected to continue to rise as well.
The highest rates of cancer among men are found in the United States, Hungary, and New Zealand; the lowest rates in Niger, Gambia, and Congo. For women, the highest rates are in the United States, Israel, and New Zealand, the lowest in Tunisia, Gambia, and Oman.
Professor John Toy of Cancer Research UK said that cancer still primarily afflicts those in the developed world, though he hopes that “new treatments will continue to improve the chances of surviving the disease.”
You Can Guide, But You Can’t Fly
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of a case brought by professional pilots suing to strike down the Federal Aviation Administration regulation that requires them to retire at age 60. They argued that they should be able to fly as long as they were healthy and could prove their competence.
Southwest Airlines filed an amicus brief on behalf of the pilots, who in the financially shaky industry are less cushioned by lucrative pension plans than they used to be.
There is legislation pending in Congress to raise the national retirement age to 65.
The FAA is allowing some air-traffic controllers to work beyond their mandatory retirement age of 56 under a waiver that lets them continue until 61. FAA Administrator Marion Blakely told the Washington Times, “There’s a strict application and assessment process based on safety.” But the controllers’ union says that the FAA is merely waiving the rules out of “expedience” because of a shortage.
The FAA released research from its Civil Aerospace Medical Institute in April questioning 1971 studies that had set the age at 56, saying those studies “do not provide any evidence about what particular age, if any, controllers begin to lose proficiency.”
The wave of retirements hitting the field goes back to President Reagan’s firing of more than 10,000 striking controllers in 1981. The 11,000 new hires will be retiring over the next decade, and Congress has not allocated enough funds to hire their replacements.
Frank Robinson Sticks Up for Older Workers
Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, 69, testified before the US Senate Select Committee on Aging in April about the right to work past traditional retirement ages, the Washington Post reported. “Times have changed,” said Robinson, now the manager of the Washington Nationals, formerly the Montreal Expos. “I don’t think you can throw a blanket over everybody and say: ‘You should retire at 50 or retire at 60.’ …“A number doesn’t mean someone can’t be productive.”
Senator Gordon Smith (R-Oregon) noted that census figures show “the percentage of the workforce age 65 or over will increase to more than 18 percent in 2025.”
Caution on Folic Acid
The New York Times has reported that folate (folic acid), incorporated in most multivitamins, could cause accelerated deterioration in older people even when taken as recommended. A study at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found unexpectedly that people over 65 who took the recommended dose of 400 milligrams or more a day experienced a more rapid decline in mental abilities than a control group. The sample was 3,500 people.
Vitamin B-12 showed a correlation with slower mental decline, but only for the oldest participants in the study.
Dr. Martha Clare Morris of the Rush Center noted that this was but one study, and said she wouldn’t recommend changing your diet over it. Among foods high in folic acid are broccoli, spinach, strawberries and oranges.
Live Longer and Better? Exercise
Speaking in Boston recently at the 34th Sports Medicine Symposium of the American Medical Association and the American College of Preventive Medicine, Dr. Walter M. Bortz, 75, said that health derives from four things— “design, external agency, internal agency, and aging”—and that we have such a built-in reserve that most of us have to lose 70 percent of our capacity before it becomes noticeable.
The Orlando Sentinel further reports that he said increased eating and decreased exercise may cause today’s kids to be the first generation in U.S. history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.
Commenting on the conference, Florida plastic surgeon Dr. Richard T. Bosshardt wrote, “Much is made of anti-aging medicine, but that is really an attempt to modify bad effects of external and internal agency. Despite attempts to sell you a pill, diet supplement, or ‘secret’ herbal formula, we don’t have any practical ability to alter the aging process.” He recommends building one’s capacities through exercise and better diet.
Aid for “GrandDrivers”
In Nebraska, the State Patrol and Department of Motor Vehicles has teamed up to “raise awareness of the natural aging process and its ultimate effect on the skills required to be a safe driver,” the Southwest Nebraska News reports. Using billboards, written materials, public-service announcements on radio and TV, and a Website, the GrandDriver program of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators is now being piloted in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.
Nebraska has 97 drivers over the age of 100 and 6,500 in their nineties. The Website connects to such programs as one administered by AARP, that offers driver-safety courses, tests your “driver’s IQ,” and gives advice on when to stop driving and how to encourage an elderly loved one to turn in his or her car keys.
Learning From Europe About Aging Populations
The United States National Institute on Aging helped fund a study of aging in Europe that the institute hopes will inform American policy in the field. Richard Suzman, NIA’s associate director for behavioral and social research told the Billings Gazette: “Europe will experience a stunning demographic transformation decades before the U.S.” He said that this Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) “provides the U.S. an opportunity to investigate innovative solutions tested in Europe with much older populations.”
The study found that the less-educated are much more apt to be physically inactive and 50 percent more apt to be obese than people with higher education. It also found that 33 percent of people over 65 look after their grandchildren an average of 4.6 hours a day.
AARP Warns America to Get Ready for Oldsters
A new study from AARP finds that most U.S. cities and towns are not ready for the aging of their citizenry, even though the current number of people 65 and over is expected to double in more than half the states by 2030.
The report on Livable Communities makes recommendations on ways that older people “can maintain independence and exercise choice and control in their lives.” It says that housing needs to be made more affordable and designed to be better fitted for people who become older and less mobile. Such accommodations would cut down on the need for nursing homes.
AARP also recommends increased public transportation and enhanced opportunities to walk or take taxis, cutting down on reliance on cars. There is also a need to involve older residents in community decision-making.
The recommendations, including a 10-point community self-assessment checklist, are available at www.aarp.org
