Steve GannHalf Of All Children Born After 2000 Could Live To Be 104
April 20th 2010 03:40
A new study suggests that very scenario and some of the reasons may surprise you.
That same study also showed the number of centenarians had increased 35 percent from 1990 to 2000, and may have risen 50 percent in the past decade. This century, the growth rate may be 60 percent per decade.
While past research on aging has oftened focused on physical lifestyle, family background, and medical care, more attention is now being paid to how people mentally work at battling notions of decline. How well do they negotiate life's troubles? What role does humor play? How outgoing are they?
A good example of this hypothesis is retiring Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who turns 90 this month. Stevens often still plays a game of tennis before a day on the bench.
It is a measure of society's changing ideas of "old age" that Justice Stevens's advanced years and his vibrant mental capabilities have drawn little media attention.
A story in the latest edition of The Christian Science Monitor suggests that one of the characteristics of the high number of centenarians may be as much a matter of attitude as anything else. Who can say when it's time to "retire"? When Bismarck picked 65 as the retirement age for Germany's 1889 pension program, there was little regard for progress in human thinking about aging.
There is little doubt that the retirement age will have to be adjusted to at least 70 in the near future. That may actually be a blessing as research has shown In general, those who reject retirement and a later life of leisure in favor of work or volunteering seem to have a leg up in adding bonus years. Giving to others and to future generations is also a gift of life to one's self.
The rising numbers of centenarians should be a signal to "young 'uns" in their 70s and 80s that they have energy to spare and plenty still to add to society.
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