“Old age is a ship-wreck.”—Charles de Gaulle.  It sure is for a large percentage of Americans.  As adults, better than half have some chronic illness (cancer, heart disease, diabetes).  By the time they hit the traditional retirement age (65), four-fifths of them have at least two chronic conditions.  Only a handful reach age 80 without some sort of health problem. 

            How does this handful dodge so many of the bullets that hit the vast majority of people?  Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist interested in aging and longevity sought answers.  He hypothesized a genetic explanation.  That didn’t pan out, so he turned his attention to common features of what he calls “Super Agers.”[1]  He and his team of researchers found the “super agers” to be “thinner, exercised more frequently and seemed “remarkably upbeat,” often with rich social lives.”[2] 

            In Topol’s view, “nothing surpasses regular exercise for promotion of healthy aging.”  Then, “healthy eating and a good night’s sleep are also crucial.”  He’s less prescriptive about what to eat than are some, but he’s hard and fast on what not to eat: highly processed junk.  These “foods” promote inflammation, which can contribute to all sorts of other maladies. 

Then there’s loneliness (“social isolation” in academese).  No one to talk to about your triumphs or disasters.  No one to share your enthusiasms.  There’s probably an up-side here to sports fans.  (Bound to be one.  Well, that’s a snotty thing to say.)  It’s been a problem for a long time.  Popular culture commonly associated lonely with individual experience, rather than as a social problem.[3]  Back in 2018, British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a “Minister for Loneliness.”  I don’t know what became of that initiative, but at least people recognized the seriousness of the problem.  Similarly, Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States, warned of loneliness as a health issue.[4]    

            Topol is pretty much dismissive of many pseudo-scientific approaches to extending lifespan and health span, or improving cognitive function.[5]  OTOH, he sees drugs like Ozempic as having an “extraordinary potential to promote health span.”  The drugs both promote weight loss and reduced inflammation. 

            Many authors are now touting the opportunities for longer life and better health available to individuals making the right choices.  That would seem to imply that shorter life and ill-health are the product of individuals making bad choices.  Why does such a large share of Americans make such poor choices and then stick to them?  The machinations of “Big Food”?  A cultural shift from personal responsibility and self-reliance to feelings of impotence and dependence in “mass society”?  Or, conversely, a shift from a coercive, normative society to a laissez-faire and diversity-celebrating society?  The internet may not be the cause of loneliness, but it seems to be an accelerant.

            Be that as it may, there’s a cardinal sitting on the planter in my yard.  Dark red head, then a dustier sort of red below it.  Beautiful. 

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[1] Eric Topol, Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity (2025). 

[2] David Shaywitz, review of Topol, Super Agers, WSJ, 7 May 2025. 

[3] Couple of my favorites: Sea of Heartbreak and I Still Miss Someone 

[4] U.K. Appoints a Minister for Loneliness – The New York Times; and A Rao, “US surgeon general warns of next public health priority: loneliness”, The Guardian, 2 May 2023. 

[5] Still, they’re all over the commercials during the network news at dinner time.  As best I recall.