At what age do you think infirmity really sets in?

C50

C50

Senior Member
Location
Ohio, USA
I have always lived a very physical lifestyle and admit to be a bit concerned as I get older. I'm 61 now, I do have a couple health issues but overall am still fit and strong, but I sure feel my body wearing out.

I know there's a lot of variation, but in my simple observations it seems when people age out of there sixties I see age really starts to take its toll for the majority of people.

Any thoughts? I apologize if this question offends anyone, not meaning to cause any duress just curious how others feel.
 

For me, I noted the most decline in endurance between 65 & 70 (I'll be 70 in 6 months). Luckier people may notice it between 75 & 80.
Then there are those who pretend they're just as good as when they were young.
😁
An 86-year-old man was having his annual checkup. He bragged to the doctor: "Hey, doc. I've got an 18-year-old bride who's pregnant with my child. How 'bout that?"
The doctor thought for a moment & said, "Let me tell you a story. I knew a guy who was a skilled hunter but one day he left home in a hurry & accidentally picked up his umbrella instead of his rifle. Later that day, he came face-to-face with a huge Grizzly Bear. He raised his umbrella, pointed it at the bear & squeezed the handle. And the bear immediately fell to the ground & died."
"That's impossible," said the old man. "Someone else must have shot that bear."
"That's kind of what I'm getting at," said the doctor.
 
Varies greatly. I look younger than some men 20 years younger than I am. Maybe I am one of the lucky ones with long telomeres on the end of my chromosomes. That noted, at most it will add only a decade or two before the inevitable happens. I'm already feeling it increasingly. Worth understanding is how one treats their body, especially with fitness and exercise of both body and mind, plus food and substance intake play significant rolls beyond genetics. Regularly smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, use abusive drugs, eat lots of red meat and greasy foods, live as a couch potato, and one pays a price in aging faster.
 

Pappy said:
At 84, I’m having some balance problems. Some days worst than others. I love to walk in the morning and some days it’s like I’m on a rocking boat trying to keep upright. I do begin some PT training sessions that are suppose to help. Personally, I blame some of the meds I take.
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This is the most interesting.. I feel that unless there's been a dramatic change to anyone in their 60's.. I think people like you Pappy, and anyone over 75 are more qualified to answer this... very valid question
 
Pappy said:
At 84, I’m having some balance problems. Some days worst than others. I love to walk in the morning and some days it’s like I’m on a rocking boat trying to keep upright. I do begin some PT training sessions that are suppose to help. Personally, I blame some of the meds I take.
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Keep walking every day no matter what the risk. Once one stops, they may end up in a wheel chair. At 87 I walk 2,000 steps daily tracked by my smart phone and watch.
 
C50 said:
I have always lived a very physical lifestyle and admit to be a bit concerned as I get older. I'm 61 now, I do have a couple health issues but overall am still fit and strong, but I sure feel my body wearing out.

I know there's a lot of variation, but in my simple observations it seems when people age out of there sixties I see age really starts to take its toll for the majority of people.

Any thoughts? I apologize if this question offends anyone, not meaning to cause any duress just curious how others feel.
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There are many factors that restrict movement as we get older. Putting on weight is a subject that most of us not only know too well about, but we wouldn't comment on someone's weight gain either. Fact is though, if you are able to keep the pounds off you will still be able to do all that you did when you were younger. Don't believe me? Let Virginia Harvey show you.
By way of contrast, the final years of the famous Ginger Rodgers are painful in the extreme.
http://afinalcurtaincall.blogspot.com/2015/07/ginger-rogers-1911-1995.html
 
Mitch86 said:
Keep walking every day no matter what the risk. Once one stops, they may end up in a wheel chair. At 87 I walk 2,000 steps daily tracked by my smart phone and watch.
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Good for you Mitch. I look forward to watching the sunrise while I walk. I shoot for 4000 steps a day, but at times my back says no way. I have an I watch and it keeps accurate step count as well as other health guides.
 
Never thought about that, feels like waiting for a bus to hit you. 😀
I do admit last winter was a little different, more of an effort to get some things done. Some people told me I did not walk like an old man, heard that a few times now. Still not 100% sure what they are saying...lol
Yes at 68 I admit to slowing down a bit, more caution doing things up high.
I know the reason I am still around..still have things to do...👖🐾🚣‍♂️:devilish::devilish:
 
Lakeland living said:
Never thought about that, feels like waiting for a bus to hit you. 😀
I do admit last winter was a little different, more of an effort to get some things done. Some people told me I did not walk like an old man, heard that a few times now. Still not 100% sure what they are saying...lol
Yes at 68 I admit to slowing down a bit, more caution doing things up high.
I know the reason I am still around..still have things to do...👖🐾🚣‍♂️:devilish::devilish:
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well of course you didn't walk like an old man.. your 68 that's only a year older than me ... you're still young... you should still be relatively fit and able so long as you don't have any serious illness

The other day I was talking to my first husband who I divorced in my 20's.. he's 18 months younger than me, he said, ''some days I wonder how I'm still here, but I wake up, and I realise I have another day'' OMG..I couldn't believe what I was hearing.. 65 years old.. and talking like he's 90... :eek:
 
I can't say I had any specific agenda for asking the question except trying to get a gauge on my future. At my age of 61 most of my friends are my age or a bit older and I'm really starting to notice how our physicality is changing. When I look at my two older brothers (78 and 76) they are just thin old men, no muscle tone at all. I really don't want to end up looking like that but realize there's only so much I can do.

On the plus side yesterday a met a guy who is 79 and said he works about 50 hours a week. He was frail looking but still moved around OK, and mentally was incredibly sharp. Actually after talking with him for a bit I would classify him as an eccentric genius, quit the character.
 
C50 said:
I can't say I had any specific agenda for asking the question except trying to get a gauge on my future. At my age of 61 most of my friends are my age or a bit older and I'm really starting to notice how our physicality is changing. When I look at my two older brothers (78 and 76) they are just thin old men, no muscle tone at all. I really don't want to end up looking like that but realize there's only so much I can do.
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In my opinion the biggest driver of health and living long (unless one dies in an accident) is in the genes. I have good ones from my parents; my wife did not. A quip goes: "If you want to live to an old age, choose your parents carefully."
 
spectratg said:
In my opinion the biggest driver of health and living long (unless one dies in an accident) is in the genes. I have good ones from my parents; my wife did not. A quip goes: "If you want to live to an old age, choose your parents carefully."
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See that's something that worries me, no one in my family has made it to 80. But I am the only one that adopted a healthy lifestyle at an early age so I'm hoping to better those genetics.
 
I'm 75 and feel like the past couple of years have seen a sharp decline in my general health. Many days I'm quite happy just basically doing nothing, and i used to hate being idle. And it seems that the rate of decline accelerates every month. Nothing really that different in terms of medical issues - just inertia.
 
hollydolly said:
well of course you didn't walk like an old man.. your 68 that's only a year older than me ... you're still young... you should still be relatively fit and able so long as you don't have any serious illness

The other day I was talking to my first husband who I divorced in my 20's.. he's 18 months younger than me, he said, ''some days I wonder how I'm still here, but I wake up, and I realise I have another day'' OMG..I couldn't believe what I was hearing.. 65 years old.. and talking like he's 90... :eek:
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I don't worry about dying, going to get here when it chooses. Not a thing you can do about it. Have some health issues in the past, heart stuff, open heart surgery and some other incidents. BUT the Doc just shakes his head, I get told to slow down on the fire wood. I am way ahead of where I was expected to be.
Feel good, head is in the right frame of mind...lol sort of. Personally I think a good frame of mind and where I live working for me. 😀 😀:devilish:
 
Buckeye said:
I'm 75 and feel like the past couple of years have seen a sharp decline in my general health. Many days I'm quite happy just basically doing nothing, and i used to hate being idle. And it seems that the rate of decline accelerates every month. Nothing really that different in terms of medical issues - just inertia.
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I plan on using the comment "I lack inertia", that a good way of looking at it. Thanks
 
Before retirement I'd read that 65-74 are the "go-go" years, 75-84 the "slow-go", and 85-up the "no-go" years. But I've aged so much since I turned 60 (am now 66 1/4 yrs old) that I'm worried that my slow-go years are going to start much much sooner than 75. But it probably is genetic as mentioned in previous posts because my brother is 4 yrs old than me and he still bikes long distances (I'm not sure how long, but for example he goes on a biking vacation in Germany). My mother continued really strong until she got rheumatoid arthritis in her mid-70s. But, my father died at 76. I think I might have gotten mostly my Dad's genes.
 
Mitch86 said:
Sometimes weight cannot be taken off at all. I'm 87 and have a big pot belly and weigh 146 pounds. I've gone on near starvation diets and the weight never seems to drop.
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Some of our belly fat becomes permanent at some point in our mature years. It's normal and happens to everyone. There's no preventing it unless you totally avoid certain foods and eat fat-burning ones all the while you're young.
 
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Today I went to the lab to get blood work done, and there were several people before me. The woman who sat in front of me was overweight, had a walker, and her ankles were very thick. When she was called to the register, I heard her say to the clerk that her birthdate was in 1955. I couldn't believe it she was only 2 years older than me. I freaked out because she looked and acted 20 years older, at least. So infirmity can happen before age 60. It depends.
 

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