GM’s announcement about discontinuing health benefits for retired employees will make it economically tough for some and devastating for others. Those with chronic illnesses or severe health conditions - I don't know what they do: moving in with adult children...finding a part time job...reverse mortgage? I do know they must be outraged, frightened, and feel so helpless.
Bemoaning that getting older isn't much fun is getting easier to say these days- for so many!
Then I read about the research so we can live longer and healthier. Healthier is good, but living longer by itself isn't going to hold much promise for those who can't afford to live longer.
Even so, the notion of a strict biological age limit is no longer in favor among the researchers.
Life expectancy has reached the 80s in the USA and in other industrialized nations. Some believe that if we can maintain our aging bodies as if we were a healthy 35, we could all be reaching at least 100 years. Some believe that humans can live to be 120 years old. That's mindboggling!
However, predicting how long humans can live then becomes difficult because of the many variables for each person – their gene pool and how well they treated themselves through out their life, It’s also impossible to tell what new therapies will come along to treat illnesses that might have been life-threatening previously.
I'm not getting too excited about the longevity-boosting therapies right now because I believe we first need treatments for specific conditions and illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular problems and cancer. Then the scientists can develop technologies that get rid of the bad elements that accumulate in our bodies over time, and maybe we'll be able to reach beyond the age of 80.
The problem is I may not be happy getting there if I can't financially support myself during those years. I have some thoughts about what I might do and I'm interested in what your ideas may be.
First, subscribe to this blog by e-mail or RSS feed. Scroll down to 'Comments' and type your ideas in the blank window. Let's have a conversation.
To your successful aging.
Ruthan Brodsky
Ruthan provides content marketing for business and health care providers.
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