Aging, the great equalizer

[Harmony]

Thanks East Sun. We have a thread about Nitric Oxide started by Ewan

Nitric Oxide critical to overall health.

Posted by East Sun (here)
Doug
I was worried as my memory was deteriorating but I stumbled onto a book by a Dr Nathan Bryan,
entitled Nitric Oxide. It's not for everyone and I would cation anyone to not self--medicate unless they really know what they are doing. I think that I did benefit from the Nitric Oxide but again,
do everything at your own risk.

Be Well!!!

[Sue (Ayt)]

Read this article the other day:

Historic Numbers of Americans Live by Themselves as They Age
Gerri Norington, 78, never wanted to be on her own as she grew old.

But her first marriage ended in divorce, and her second husband died more than 30 years ago. When a five-year relationship came to a close in 2006, she found herself alone — a situation that has lasted since.

“I miss having a companion who I can talk to and ask ‘How was your day?’ or ‘What do you think of what’s going on in the world?’” said Norington, who lives in an apartment building for seniors on the South Side of Chicago. Although she has a loving daughter in the city, “I don’t want to be a burden to her,” she said.

Norington is part of a large but often overlooked group: the more than 16 million Americans living alone while growing old. Surprisingly little is known about their experiences.

This slice of the older population has significant health issues: Nearly 4 in 10 seniors living alone have vision or hearing loss, difficulty caring for themselves and living independently, problems with cognition, or other disabilities, according to a KFF analysis of 2022 census data.

If help at home isn’t available when needed — an altogether too common problem — being alone can magnify these difficulties and contribute to worsening health.

Studies find that seniors on their own are at higher risk of becoming isolated, depressed, and inactive, having accidents, and neglecting to care for themselves. As a result, they tend to be hospitalized more often and suffer earlier-than-expected deaths.

Getting medical services can be a problem, especially if older adults living alone reside in rural areas or don’t drive. Too often, experts observe, health care providers don’t ask about older adults’ living situations and are unaware of the challenges they face.

<snip>

This “gray revolution” in Americans’ living arrangements is fueled by longer life spans, rising rates of divorce and childlessness, smaller families, the geographic dispersion of family members, an emphasis on aging in place, and a preference for what Eric Klinenberg, a professor of sociology at New York University, calls “intimacy at a distance” — being close to family, but not too close.

The most reliable, up-to-date data about older adults who live alone comes from the U.S. Census Bureau. According to its 2023 Current Population Survey, about 28% of people 65 and older live by themselves, including slightly fewer than 6 million men and slightly more than 10 million women. (The figure doesn’t include seniors living in institutions, primarily assisted living and nursing homes.)

By contrast, 1 in 10 older Americans lived on their own in 1950.

Longer Article continues at link:
https://kffhealthnews.org/news/artic...orks-children/

It seems to me that this number is only going to grow, as more and more younger people are delaying having children and/or choosing to go it alone.

I am hearing the phrase repeated more and more by my cohorts that
"Old age is not for the timid!"
And realistically, the challenges truly can be huge.

[Tintin]

A very interesting 'age' related study paper published last year that really may offer some hope somewhere down the line

___________________________________________________________________

Targeting iron-associated protein Ftl1 in the brain of old mice improves age-related cognitive impairment

Source: Nature Aging
Published: 19 August 2025 Nature Aging volume 5, pages 1957–1969 (2025)
Laura Remesal, Juliana Sucharov-Costa, Yuting Wu, Karishma J. B. Pratt, Gregor Bieri, Amber Philp, Mason Phan, Turan Aghayev, Charles W. White III, Elizabeth G. Wheatley, Bende Zou, Brandon R. Desousa, Julien Couthouis, Isha H. Jian, Xinmin S. Xie, Yi Lu, Jason C. Maynard, Alma L. Burlingame & Saul A. Villeda

ABSTRACT

Understanding cellular and molecular drivers of age-related cognitive decline is necessary to identify targets to restore cognition at old age. Here we identify ferritin light chain 1 (FTL1), an iron-associated protein, as a pro-aging neuronal factor that impairs cognition. Using transcriptomic and mass spectrometry approaches, we detect an increase in neuronal FTL1 in the hippocampus of aged mice, the levels of which correlate with cognitive decline. Mimicking an age-related increase in neuronal FTL1 in young mice alters labile iron oxidation states and promotes synaptic and cognitive features of hippocampal aging.

Targeting neuronal FTL1 in the hippocampi of aged mice improves synaptic-related molecular changes and cognitive impairments. Using neuronal nuclei RNA sequencing, we detect changes in metabolic processes, such as ATP synthesis, and boosting these metabolic functions through NADH supplementation mitigated pro-aging effects of neuronal FTL1 on cognition. Our data identify neuronal FTL1 as a key molecular mediator of cognitive rejuvenation.

[rgray222]

To me, ageing is not the great equalizer, it is birth and death. The fact that we come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing screams to me that material possessions and status are temporary and meaningless in the grand scheme of life. This one fact alone should tip us off that our human experience is only transient. When you consider those bare-bones truths, it tells us that material wealth and your political, social, or corporate standing are meaningless, and human and spiritual relationships are the reason we are here. The scars of our life struggles should be worn like badges, and the younger generation should seek out these people and learn. Thinking about birth and death alone tells me that there is a creator, God and he or she is sovereign over life and death.

[Mike Gorman]

Posted by rgray222 (here)
To me, ageing is not the great equalizer, it is birth and death. The fact that we come into this world with nothing and leave with nothing screams to me that material possessions and status are temporary and meaningless in the grand scheme of life. This one fact alone should tip us off that our human experience is only transient. When you consider those bare-bones truths, it tells us that material wealth and your political, social, or corporate standing are meaningless, and human and spiritual relationships are the reason we are here. The scars of our life struggles should be worn like badges, and the younger generation should seek out these people and learn. Thinking about birth and death alone tells me that there is a creator, God and he or she is sovereign over life and death.

This might seem a little superficial, but an amusing image occurs to me: compare graves of a homeless person, to that of a multi-millionaire, how do they compare, the wealthy one might have a much posher stone memorial, or even be in a mausoleum but in any given cemetery there are a mix of very wealthy/very poor people - both now dead & equivalently unable to manifest their differences or comparative wealth/poverty : Death is always the ultimate equalizer.