Since my 80th birthday 20 years ago, I have been inundated by a flood of information about the elderly and their needs. Old age or at least anti-aging has become a cottage industry online, on television, in magazines, wherever. I thought I was pretty much inured to all that.

But now there is something new to think about. The Wall Street Journal recently published a piece on living to be 150. Rather, it published two pieces one by an epidemiologist predicting that it will happen in the next 75 years, and the second by a biologist who thinks that it wont. The two have wagered $300 apiece on the outcome, the payoff coming 75 years from now.

The possibility of living to 150 leaves me with mixed emotions, to put it mildly. I will hit 100 in a few weeks, a milestone long thought to be impressive. According to the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University, there are an estimated 343,000 folks over 100 living on the globe today, 80,000 in the United States, 800 in New England. The U.S. figures include 32,000 who are over 105. A United Nations study predicts there will be 3.2 million centenarians in 2050. Average life expectancy has jumped from 48 to 77 in the last century.

The New England Centenarian Study has been compiling statistics on old folks since 1995. It has three categories centenarians, semi-supercentarians (ages 105-109), and supercentarians (110 and up}. It now accepts only candidates who are 103 or over, so Im going to have to wait for a while. Among other findings, it has concluded that longevity is largely genetic. That figures. My older sister checked out at 103, most of my other siblings in their 90s or late 80s.

Ill admit that over the past 20 years or so I sometimes wondered if I would reach the century mark. I regarded it as a sort of goal. Now that Im on the threshold, I feel reasonably content and satisfied. I dont seem to have a goal say 105 in the same way that I used to. Why not? If I looked forward to reaching 90 when I hit 80 and to 100 when I reached 90, why would I not now anticipate 105 as my next goal?

The answer is complicated and involves subtle psychological and emotional factors. The fact is that I want to be realistic. The five years since my 95th birthday have been more difficult than the preceding five. Anyone who approaches the century mark has experienced various difficulties, physical and emotional. These do not diminish with passing of time. Anything but.

I say this as someone who has enjoyed extraordinary luck throughout my life. I got through four years of war in the Navy without a scratch. Ive had two remarkably fulfilling marriages and a satisfying career. Now, in my declining years, I have a cluster of relatives children, nieces, nephews and friends who do much to make my life a pleasing and productive experience. I cant praise them enough. The coronavirus has limited my visitor list, but I still communicate by phone and Skype with those I care about. Life is still worth living, despite the various handicaps of old age. I still enjoy it.

Tremendous advances have been made in human health since I was born. A baby girl born this week can expect to reach 80, a baby boy a bit less. On the average. Thats a huge increase over such expectations in 1920. Many diseases, once killers, have been eliminated, and the quality of life for us seniors has improved greatly, but there are limits. The agng process continues its relentless way. The centenarian study folks find that the upper limit of longevity may be 115 or thereabouts. Thats if everything everything goes right for a century or more.

I sometimes have to remind my caregivers that a 1920 model human or automotive needs constant maintenance. Its something we oldies just have to live with.

Now lets get on with it.

Originally posted here:
Al Southwick: Thought of living to 150 leaves me with mixed emotions - Worcester Telegram