A few weeks ago, I wrote “Celebrity Deaths Remind Me of Death.'' Now we realize that celebrity aging can inspire us too. It is encouraging that we live in an age where there are many centenarians.
Who doesn't know Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981? Carter turned 100 on October 1, making him the oldest former US president. His wife Rosalynn Carter passed away last year at the age of 96. How happy is it that the couple will soon celebrate their 200th anniversary?
According to 2023 U.S. government statistics, approximately 0.05% of men and 0.09% of women will live to be 90 years old or older. As you can see, women's longevity is almost twice that of men, even if they are over 100 years old.
Can you imagine Rupert Murdoch, the Australian-American businessman and investor, 93 years old? Yet he's going strong. He has been married four times and is engaged again. Perhaps stronger masculinity is what keeps him active and continues to run marathons.
It seems like we are only talking about the rich and famous! Yoshiko Miwa, a Japanese American living in California who was in the news last week, just turned 110 years old. She survived the Spanish Flu, World War II, lost her parents, siblings, and friends, and still walks among her great-grandchildren.
I think most of us have heard, and still do, the bold voice of British natural historian and television producer David Attenborough. He turns 97 this year.
What about Sophia Loren, an international movie star from Italy who turns 90 this year? She is still actively producing documentaries. The United States has many more famous people, including Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, Clint Eastwood, and Apollo satellite astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
There are many famous people in India who are in their 80s and are living well into their 90s.
Here I talk about a familiar face at CNN. He is Sanjay Gupta. Dr. Gupta is an American neurosurgeon who went on to become a medical reporter and writer for CNN. However, he is only 54 years old. Why do I mention his name, since he mainly writes about people in their 90s and centenarians?
This is a story about his parents – his mother Damyanti Gupta (91 years old) and his father Subhash Gupta (95 years old). Dr. Gupta created the podcast by interviewing his parents and Professor Becca Levy about aging. Below is an excerpt from that podcast.
When asked, “What do you think about aging?” his mother answered: “Well, people start aging from the day they are born.”
So you're always aging, and that's a very good thing. In another question, his father said, “People shouldn't be afraid of getting old. Retirement is the best time, the golden age.”
Professor Becca Levy is a professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale University. She is also the author of Breaking the Age Code: Beliefs About Aging Determine How Long and Healthy You Live. In her opinion, “Positive age beliefs appear to be beneficial to the health of older adults, but unfortunately, there are only a few negative age beliefs that we can adopt.'' can harm a wide variety of health outcomes.”
She said the five words that describe older people are wisdom, creativity, generativity, storytelling, and warmth. Sanjay Gupta said: contentment, happiness, wisdom, judgment, and experience.
For me, humans are part of nature. Human aging is no different from other natural products such as plants, trees, and animals. There are 100 trillion cells that make up our body. As humans age, all cells also age. Their function gradually declines, reducing their ability to divide and multiply. The function of most organs, especially the heart, lungs, and kidneys, decreases. The connective tissue also changes, becoming harder and stiffer. Most importantly, muscle function begins to decline.
Genetically, we are programmed to go through this aging process, so we have to be willing to accept it.
Jiben Roy, originally from Bangladesh, teaches chemistry and pharmacy at Mississippi Woman's University. He writes an occasional column for his Dispatch.his email address is [email protected].
Jiben Roy, originally from Bangladesh, teaches chemistry and pharmacy at Mississippi Woman's University.his email address is [email protected].
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