by Telly G. Ocampo

My Way of Thinking Young

Some time in 1988, I had my hysterectomy.  As a result, I experienced an adverse effect to anesthesia.  I was 44 years old then.  It was a near death experience but i can listen to what was happening around me.  I heard what they were all saying but i could not move.  I prayed real hard to the Lord to give me back my life until 65. My children were very young then. I wanted to see them fly their wings and be on their own.  And what if my husband would remarry?

And now, I’m 77 and my husband has passed on ahead of me.  My life is more than a bonus.  But ironies of ironies, I don’t feel old except that my surgery becomes a reminder that I’m already a senior citizen of the world.

I have a very good friend, way back in college, who calls me every now and then.  Our conversations are our ways of exercising our tongue and our brain.  The subject of our conversation? Well, they are Noli Me Tangere and Dirty Linen. With this era of mobile fones, my college chum and I, have our conversations regularly and very often, at that. At almost 80, she still goes to her Petron gasoline station, attends the Holy Mass in the afternoon and obliges to her tv time only for Noli Me Tangere.

Personally, I love to watch Dirty Linen even if this is shown at 10:30 in the evening at ABS-CBN. This screen schedule has really changed my sleeping time.  I’m the one keeping my college chum abreast of the happenings of Dirty Linen. I am thankful to this new gadget – the mobile phone. As a “companion” it keeps me animated and updated. Although, I limit myself to the number of hours I use it and I also control my grandchildren’s use of it,

Another friend from Tacloban, but now based in Manila, forwarded to me a material entitled “Old age now begins at 80”.  Makalipay gud nga news.  She is Ilene Sta. Maria who is past 80.  She doesn’t look and act like she is in the mid 80’s and so with my college chum Teresita Fabian Yu who had partial hip replacement like me. Published in this page is the article written by Tim Radford.

Old age now begins at 80

by Tim Radford

OLD age has been postponed.

Biologically and psychologically, it now begins at 80, according to lan Robertson, dean of research at Dublin’s Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience.

“This leaves 30 years – roughly age 50 to 80, a period much longer than youth for which we have to have a whole new way of living,” he told the British Association science festival recently.

Robertson began to study the effect of age on the brain in 1984. Then, the average age of stroke victims was 72.

“By 1999, the average age of my patients was around 82. In just 15 short years, I saw with my own eyes how, in many senses of the word, people had become younger by roughly 10 years.”

The human brain, he argued, at all ages was plastic: it was shaped by experience, learning and thinking. Ancient Romans had a life expectancy of 22, while Europeans could look forward to a lifespan of 50 years at the start of the 20th century.

A woman of 60 in Britain now could expect to live on average to 83. The degree to which people retained their faculties after 50 was influenced by what they did.

He listed a seven-point plan to ensure a youthful old age: 

  • Aerobic fitness was probably most important. The function and structure of thebrain were influenced by activity.
  • Mental stimulation was vital. People could reduce cognitive decline by mental training.
  • New learning was important. “The more you learn, the more you can learn,” he said. “It can have profound physiological effects on the brain.”
  • High and prolonged stress had negative effects, particular on human memory.
  • A rich social life helped. “People who maintain a lot of social interactions maintain mental sharpness for a longer period.”
  • Healthy eating. A diet rich in fruit and vegetables and fish had profound effects on cognitive decline later in life.
  • Finally, think young. Guardian Newspapers Limited

Seniors like me let’s all rejoice and think young!!!