Health at Any Age

[talon]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35675368/ns/business-cnbc_tv/

I think they're looking at this the wrong way.

OK, that's not news, is it?

Going with anecdotal information - my mother's parents lived in a time when healthcare was not universal. Yet they both lived fairly healthy lives - my grandmother died quietly in her sleep in her 90s and my grandfather died of a skating accident when he was 104. They rarely saw a doctor, were rarely ill (never in all the years I lived with them) and their friends were much the same way. They didn't take pills. Neither of them had any prescription medications. They didn't take vitamins. My grandfather took a shot of jaegermeister before bed each night - he claimed it helped him sleep and kept him young.

Their contemporaries were the same way - healthy, medication-free, and old.

You might dismiss that because they're Germans and Germany is a different country.

But my father's parents lived in America - Kiowa Apaches - and they, too, lived to be very old and medication-free.

My father was killed by a hand grenade when he was far too young (my youngest child is older than my father ever lived to be) and my mother died of the flu 2 years ago - in her 80's. She was, except for the flu, a healthy woman living on her own and relatively medication-free. She had lots of expired antibiotics from previous acute ailments, but nothing chronic.

My family and I are on one end of a bell curve - the profoundly healthy end, for which I am not only grateful, I've done my best to make sure it stays that way.

I think prior generations expected to take care of their own health for the most part and did a reasonably well job of it.

I grew up that way, too, and I've seen the doctor for injuries but not illnesses. Of course, I haven't been sick. I think I'm naturally immune to colds and flu and seasonal allergies and all the things that lay people low. I know I have good blood pressure, good blood sugar levels, a strong heart, stamina, and all those other good things.

From a young age, I've always been active, eaten well and healthy, and taken good care of the body I have because I expect it to last me a lifetime.

I think too many people in America (and perhaps other countries, but I don't live in any of them) expect others to take care of them, to pass laws to make sure they are forced to do the right things, eat the right foods, get the right kinds of exercise, and take care of their bodies for them. And when that fails, they try to get more healthcare instead of taking care of themselves.

Yes, yes, I know there are people who will say "but I have this (fill in the blank condition) that requires constant expensive medical care" I'm not talking about all you people on the ends of the bell curve who are either profoundly ill or profoundly healthy (I'm on the healthy end). I'm talking about the vast majority of people who are (or would be) reasonably healthy without massive amounts of medical care, who are capable of tending to their own healthcare needs for the most part, and who have the ability to lead healthy lives.

Especially older people.

Getting old is not an automatic sentence to chronic an/or debilitating illnesses.

I do believe that our current view of medicine makes for more sickly older people, because we don't teach our children in their childhoods to automatically take care of their health. Instead, we haul them to the doctor for every little sniffle, rash, or scrape and teach them they can't take care of themselves. The media fosters this attitude, too, with all the cop and hospital and rescue shows where actors tell other actors they shold have left it to the professionals. And all thos endless ads telling people if they have this niggle or that naggle they need to see their doctor right away in case they need this expensive medication/

And then we have "spokespeople" telling us in news articles that "sure so-and-so saved this life or stopped this criminal, but remember next time to leave it to the professionals to handle" with the underlying essage that we're too stupid to take care of ourselves. We should all sit around passively waiting for "prefessionals" to take care of us.

Screw that.

We're smart, savvy adults and we can take care of lots of things without professional intervention - from tending a cold to managing our overall health.

No one else is as vested in making sure we enjoy our lifespan in health as we are.

It is our responsibility to keep ourelves healthy and fit regardless of our age because we're the ones who have to live in our bodies.