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Why the Need for Age Management?

Updated on 18th June 2008 by Dr Charles Tweed and Alistair Tweed.

The biggest fears people usually have about getting old is losing their faculties and not being able to care for themselves. Most commonly, the second problem is because of the first.

Have you ever been to visit a relative or friend who is in a rest or nursing home? There is almost total silence - no conversation or social interplay, merely the passage of time until the next meal. It is heartbreaking and, sadly, all too common.

Unfortunately, due to the changing demographics in the developed world, this situation is not likely to change for the better. There will be a greater proportion of older people and a lesser proportion of younger people to care and provide for them. Market forces suggest that the cost of care is likely to rise from the already exorbitant levels of today and common sense suggests that the standard of care is likely to deteriorate.

To add insult to injury, there is some evidence to suggest that mainstream modern medicine, with it's emphasis on cure rather than prevention, has been very effective at curing many of the diseases affecting the elderly with the result that people's life spans are increasing. Unfortunately, without proactive health management people's health spans are not.

It is likely that some of us will find ourselves, several decades from now, suffering from dementia, incontinent and sitting in an arm chair, uncomprehending in front of a screen showing endless soap repeats. Seeing oneself thus, in poor and deteriorating care, with poor and deteriorating faculties with the prospect of many years to go is not a comforting thought.

This is not the way caring for the elderly needs to be. Nor is it the way aging needs to be.

On a personal level, it is far easier to avoid being admitted to these facilities in the first place, than it is to try to change the quality of care once you are there. It is also worth stating that no one is going to look after you as well as you are able to.

By taking steps now to avoid deterioration due to age related disease and slow or, where possible, to prevent the body’s gradual decline into decrepitude, we can all hope to keep active, independent and healthy well into old age. Our goal is to extend the years of good health and decrease or even abolish the years of ill-health and dependence.

Bearing in mind that you are likely to get the time it takes to read this site back, along with many more years of healthy life, let’s look at how that can be done.

"Our mission is for everyone to die young at an old age." [S. Michal Jazwinski, biochemist and molecular biologist]