There is a fascination with ageing. Scientists are working on a 40-year-old study that could help predict, when you're in your 20s, how you're going to age. In this week's Herald, they announced they could at least identify certain biological markers that could help predict your remaining years on this planet.
The rationale appears to be that some of us can experience accelerated ageing, perhaps ageing a bit faster for our years than our counterparts. From this, the argument is whether we can tackle the ageing process itself, as a biological concept. Can we design therapies and medication to slow ageing?
It's a science-fiction concept which is naturally a delight to academics and scientists, and it is worthy research.
My view is the urge to live longer is understandable, but everything dies, and I do believe that death can be a release at a great age. Most of us have experienced weariness, tiredness in our day-to-day lives, days when all we really want to do is hit the bed. At an advanced age, that tiredness can be present all the time. If I go by my grandfather's experience, simply living was a source of tiredness. It really depends on what part of the body is going to break down first, and I sometimes wonder if it is more of a cruelty to be cursed with an indefinite but painful decline.
I'm a fan of doing everything possible to remain reasonably capable in my advanced age, but the scientific study really suggests it is more down to luck and good genetics. There are far more dramatic and visible ways to ensure you never reach retirement. I can generally tell why someone my age looks 10 years older than me - it's usually because they're a smoker. Cigarettes really add the years, especially on women, because it's so hard on the circulatory system and the skin.
