Preserving the quality of life

My mother-in-law is a remarkable person. At 92, she still cooks, bakes, keeps her room tidy and is active at the local senior center. Admittedly, in the last couple of years, she has slowed down a bit and usually takes an afternoon nap, but that doesn’t stop her from enjoying life, including traveling by train and by plane — by herself — to visit family and friends.

Not only has she been blessed with a long life, she has also been blessed with good skin. She takes great pride that she doesn’t look a day over 80.

Anyone who is 92 is bound to have some physical problems, and my mother-in-law is no exception. I accompanied her to the doctor’s office one day after she complained of persistent dizziness. The doctor examined her and adjusted her blood-pressure medicine. She asked, “Why am I having problems with my blood pressure? I don’t use salt; I watch my diet; I’m not overweight; and I take my pills.”

The doctor looked at her and said, “Helen, on the outside you certainly don’t look 92, but on the inside, you are 92.”

In other words, she was getting older despite everything she did right.

That’s life. We all get older. But today we don’t have to accept what was inevitable just a few years ago. We can look better and feel better for a much longer period of our lifetime.

And people expect to “keep on ticking.” That came home to me last week when I overheard two women sitting at the next table to mine in an airport restaurant. One woman was in her 30s, the other in her late 40s. I heard them ask each other: “What supplements are you taking? How are they helping you? I was thinking about taking …”

Their goal was to preserve their quality of life.

That’s really what anti-aging is all about — making life better, longer. Having good skin (like my mother-in-law’s) is part of the anti-aging phenomenon. But having good health … well, that is the “real deal.”

When I am my mother-in-law’s age, I hope the doctor will tell me, “Linda, you look more like 80 than 92. And more important — on the inside, you look 80, too.”

Until next time,

Linda Segall, Editor-in-Chief