Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comThe number of middle-aged Americans with certain mobility-related disabilities, such as trouble climbing stairs, is on the rise, according to a new study.
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Oh gee whiz, forgive me. Let's see, for years I drove stakes with a sledgehammer on construction sites. I scrubbed floors on my hands and knees. I moved every piece of furniture (known to humanity) for my family. I've toted, worked, hauled, dragged, picked up, and every other physical exertion one can imagine. (And yes, I'm a woman.) Now that I'm getting old (as a boomer), the powers that be determine that I might have mobility problems. (Give me a break.) Let's forget that my arthritis really gets to me some days, I walk with a limp because of old injuries, I can't raise one of my arms over my head because of a ruined shoulder, I refuse to run up and down stairs, and I have to work and stretch some of the body parts just to get out of bed. But I do get up every morning and go to work. I still haul, carry and drag whatever, as need be--thank the heavens I don't have to do that so much anymore. (I should buy stock in ibuprofen and aspirin.) I take fewer sick days than my much younger counterparts. I keep after my aches and pains and do my best to conquer them.
Now some genius has decided that this is a disappointment. And woe to all, I may have to be long-term care someday. I've worked 2 and 3 jobs at a time, kept a roof over my family's head, paid into the system my whole life, been a productive member of society, and now that I'm starting to get worn down--I'm a disappointment. And just because I've had decent medical care, I'll be burden to society because I didn't die off by 50. What a bunch of crap. (Am I the only person who remembers the movie "Logan's Run"?)
I've got some news for these "researchers," with any luck, they'll get older, too. I hope they reread this article when they get to this point. I hope they don't ever need to worry about long-term care. But hey, who knows, maybe they won't make it to 50 and be a burden to society. I'm sure that they wouldn't want to be a disappointment.
Could not have said it better. Thanks
I suspect that it's just the opposite of what you say.
People who have worked (physically worked) their whole lives are usually still healthy in middle and even old age.
It is people who lived sedentary lives, who drove everywhere and rarely walked, who worked mostly or entirely at desk jobs, they are the ones who have hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease by early middle age and who can barely walk at 60.
If you don't use it, you have to expect you'll lose it.
Serious is correct.
The theory that boomers have had a more physically demanding lifestyle than previous generations is ridiculous.
Boomers are the first generation to actively compete in the lazy contest....and they have won...
I would point out we are the first generation of widespread athletic recreation and aerobic exercises. I did aerobics until I cracked a rib doing aerobics with a new instructor ended my aerobics desire. I also went into a job where I was basically stuck at a desk 8 hrs a day without the ability to get up and move around which was allowed only at breaks and at lunch.
While I spent my twenties and thirties physically healthy and did a lot of yard work and manual labor, by my forties, I was breaking down and gaining weight from a medical condition. Now in my fifties, I have a bad knee and and a back that is deteriorating from the cervical spine clear down to the S-1 level causing mobility problems and chronic, intermittent stabbing pain in the neck and arm.
I recently heard that Jane Fonda, the queen of aerobic exercise, just had hip replacement surgery. It would not surprise me if all the high impact exercise we did for our health back in the '70's and 80's is now resulting in more knee, hip, and back problems as we have aged.
very well said!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well siad I hope a lot of the young readers read and heed this....unfortunately many of the young today feel they will live forever and life is just a big ongoing "Spring Break". Its a sad case study of what the future could look like; I am reminded of the story of the Ant and the Grasshopper for those of you old enough to remember that. I am lucky that I have stayed in excellant shape over the years and have very few problems but have many friends my age who are indeed experiancing these type issues. From some of the posts I have read about the health care debacle the younger readers just feel like the country would be better off if all the boomers just shot themselves so the party could go on.
Very well put Zapper. I am rapidly approaching 66 and look forward to retiring. Pain is a constant companion but you learn to live it. I would love to jog with the youngsters but I would fall down gasping for air after 50 yards. I have been a bit short winded since the By-Pass surgery about 12 years ago. I live alone and do everything for myself. I intend to take care of myself until my last breath. Even though I have only 37% lung capacity, I will never have "Handicap" plates on my car.
What I find amusing are the people in their 40's that haven't seen their feet in 20 years. Forget about ever lacing up shoes which is why they wear slip-ons. When you hit 40 you have to watch what you eat. Looking at some foods puts on weight.
My revenge on the youngsters is on the Skeet Field. I just love to out shoot the kids with my 28 ga pump shotgun and do doubles all around the field while they struggle with a 12 ga. I may need glasses to read but I can still count the dimples on a clay target at 21 yards.
What has become a chore is cranking the boat back onto the trailer after a day of fishing. My son thinks his job is to keep the boat straight while it goes on the trailer or maybe he is just happy I can still do it.
Age is a @!$%#. You know you are going to die, someday. I've got too much to do before someday. I have paid into the system all my life and plan to enjoy these last few years. It is not as enjoyable as it used to be, but I feel that I have earned it. God help the person that tries to take it from me.
Serious and Lu, et. al: I understand your point of view, however, the older we get the more we do get worn down. Yes, I have a desk job now. Thank my lucky stars. I've had many injuries over the years, and only one was my fault (broke leg on ice), and none was intentional. I don't know anyone my age who has survived without at least one major catastrophe. It makes a difference. And everyone is not so fortunate that all their organs continue to work like they did when we were in our twenties. My thyroid's quitting, gallbladder is gone, etc. It's all part of the aging process. Diet, you wonder? I'll match mine against yours any day of the week. I probably eat healthier than 95% of my counterparts, but middle age spread still challenges me. Exercise--as I can. The right foot just had another blow out from the old injuries, and I'm back in the walking boot (again). (I don't think I've heard of someone wearing one these boots out, but at this rate, I may hold the title.) So blaming everything on a sedentary lifestyle isn't valid. Many are very sedentary, yes, but so many more work at being the best we can.
Let me echo Zapper, for years I was a mason tender/concrete worker. I've carried staging, planks, blocks etc... etc... A favorite saying in constuction where I'm from is.."I want to see azzholes and elbows" Now that I'm older, my knees creak, back bothers me etc.. etc.. I don't let it stop me I keep going, but I can say for certain it was not a sedentary lifestyle that makes me feel this way. It was, and is years hard work. The body is a machine and like any machine, the harder you work it the more wear and tear it gets. I'm not complaining, just saying that's how it is.
We are a bunch of decrepit old farts, aren't we?
More Social Security for me...............heh heh heh........
People that have sat on their @sses and lived off junk food all of their lives now have mobility problems....wow...what a shock...
And the next generations have been obese and dormant their entire lives...
...wonder how they will turn out??
Could this study also be distorted based on the fact that the boomer generation is the largest generation - ever. More people, more problems. How can you compare the boomer generation to any past generation. I suppose in 20 years they'll start saying "wow, the number of physical problems have decreased" - big surprise.
It's interesting that nobody blamed being fat for their problems. Don't want to give up the old cheeseburgers I guess.
They don't want to take any personal responsibility for their actions.
Read the article! The study could not cite obesity or any other clear reason for the outcomes. I do blame the food supply. High intake of many electrolights like magnesium, phosphorous and sodium can cause bone and nerve deterioration, not to mention the vast array of reined and human created sugars. Even if you're not heavy, these thing can have adverse effects on your body.
Tuthfully the article is very vague and is really just some fluff. It does not provide any real information.
I agree that the rise in obesity has to be a fundamental cause of the rise in mobility problems. But also, there has been a rise in thyroid problems which causes joint problems. I had problems climbing the stairs at 45 but after going on thyroid hormones, it went away. I'm now 60 and heavier but still can go up & down stairs much more easily than when I was younger.
I didn't see any reference to access to adequate medical care early on. I know from my own experiences that early treatment and mobility therapy can make a difference later on. I am still mobile after a couple of serious run-ins with drunk drivers and the care I got made the difference. for me; not everyone is that fortunate. As long as I stick to my daily excercise routine I should be good to go for quite a while longer than I suspect I would be able to without treatment. I realize that may not be true for everyone but to each their own.
Since Americans are going to get health care wether or not they want it, there are some things about medicine that can make a difference so may as well take advantage of it when its' needed.
Another aspect to consider is how 'convenient' we've made our everyday functions...
Dryers instead of hanging laundry. Robotic vaccum cleaners and lawn mowers, even shopping at grocery stores. Ever notice that the most popular brands are located at mid level so that you don't have to stoop or stretch to reach them?
Don't even get me started on 'handicapped' shopping carts. You wouldn't believe how many use them that don't warrant it..WORST invention on the planet.
Add the TV and computer usage and the bottom total is what we have today.
Wake up America!
Some of us who use those "granny scooters" at the supermarket do, in fact, need them, even if we don't look like we do. I'm in my early 40's and have had rheumatoid arthritis since I was 16. I take good care of my health and am not overweight, but I'm still not able to walk well enough to navigate the grocery store. Yet, I still work 60 hours a week. Thank god for desk jobs! I do get irritated with the lazy people who just don't want to shuffle their fat butts through the store, taking a limited resource away from those of us who need it.
In some respects, I'm glad that there are more people with disabilities, since it will spur more research into drugs and joint replacement technologies. I've already had all of my knuckles in my hands replaced and am looking at having a wrist replacement, two ankle replacements, and a knee replacement during the next few years. Oh yeah, then I'll need revisions on the knuckles, since they're over 10 years old already.
Judging by the number of fat ass baby boomers I see, especially women at that age, no wonder there having problems getting around.
Kflann
Obesity among children in the United States is a huge problem, many, not all of these obease children have parents who are "hip, sylish, professional people" worried more about their own image and careers than the children they brought into the world. I dont disagree with your post but please dont generalize.
Boomers are the big crisis continually--but not the illegal alien heathen breeders....
Could it be that working 55 years not missing a day is now a problem....and without all those perks and never any public assistance...
How about being knocked over at your families Veterans grave site by the brown barret aka The Race burning your flag right in front of your face using defanities which is typical for ILLEGALS who live to hate yet make demands upon USA soil while being illegal, illegitimate illiterate of which a TREASONOUS government would constantly give double standards for criminal illegal alien THE RACE=666=LA RAZA Invaders then reward them again and again with Amnesty
See how many died that the Black Extremist want to ignore: generations gone...the dead fought for sovereignty--this is what we end up with while replacing US Generations with ILLEGALS who don't know what it is to contribute and abide by any law--man's or GOD's: Thou Shalt Not Steal
So over 80% illegals illegitimacy is not a problem: what is it?
Illegals, illegitimates, illiterates are like not only leaving weeds in a garden or foreign plants or foreign species which kill or overtake native plants--but are worthless...waste,,,
You are sick and need help. Some us only have mobility problems, You have a serious mental problem. I hope you will seek help. Ironicaly it will probably be from a latino doctor.
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Red Meat is a major contributor to arthritis. I have met people in their 30's and 40's who are crippled with arthritis. All heavy red meat eaters. By the time their in their 60's they are incapacitated.
Eat whole foods.
Oh please. First of all, "arthritis" encompasses many different ailments. The old age/overuse arthritis (osteoarthritis) is vastly different from rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease. I've tried many different diets and snake oil recommendations and none have had any effect upon my RA. I wish it were that easy. Instead, I get the joy of taking 10 different prescriptions just so I can get out of bed every day. Not all health conditions are a result of something you've done or haven't done to yourself. Personally, I like red meat and need the iron, due to anemia that's a side effect of some of the meds I take.
Guess what? All those years of being a couch potato, McDonald lunches for workers, three martini lunches for executives, rider mowers, and beer belly haven status finally caught up with all those baby boomers. Look at todays kids stuck in front of video games eating potato chips and drinking sodas. Fifty years hence when these video gamers reach retirement they will have trouble standing, let alone climbing a set of stairs!
Baby Boomers are the "Me" generation - they aren't any more disabled then the generations before (who did much more physical labor). But they are much more likely to whine about it.
The Boomer generation, especially those that greww up in the 50's were in the country's "Golden age" when excess and economic fullfilment became the American culture. It is a fact though that the rich are generally much healthier than the poor. This is due to access to better food, health care and a less gruelling physical lifestyle. People tend to have mobility problems for three basic reasons, poor diet, excessive physical wear, and failure to obtain regular medical care.
So do the math.
I'm beginning to think that I've done something right all these years! Most of the jobs I've ever had have had me on my feet and moving my body most of the time. I've always been a walker, and have exercised moderately; yoga, moderate resistance training, jogging twice a week. I always thought that the approach to physical fitness now exemplified by P90X was really excessive, unless you're living some Olympic athlete fantasy. Making too many demands on your body can be just as harmful in the long run as making too few.
I'm now 60, still jog twice a week, walk a mile and a half to work most days, and maintain the same physical regimen that I did 10 years ago. I'm 5'10" and weigh just over 150lbs. I have occasional aches that I didn't 20 years ago, but nothing like what's been described in the article and this thread. I've always believed that bodies were meant to move. Instead people look for reasons not to move instead of opportunities to do so.
My walk home takes me through the parking lot of the central YMCA of my city. I watch people trolling around the parking lot, looking for the closest space, so that they won't have to walk too far to their workout! Gotta love the irony.
I started sitting at a desk after I turned 35 and I started having health problems.
I will never work a desk job again. It's too hard on a person's body to be sedentary for long periods of time.
And it's the people who sit all day who have to do "workouts" to make up for it, which means scheduling physical activity into an already too busy life that activity has been designed out of.
Hampster-that will not be the case. You need to understand the point of body piercing. These people are pretty smart-attach a chain to the hoops in the piercings, attach, a chain to a motorized, (micro stuff), frame, plug the new electro-entertainment crap into the socket on the back of the head and hang there, in oblivion, while the machine moves them from place to place. Catheters, colostomy bags, (evacuation) and intravenous feeding of rancid grease, sugar and white flour, (skip the chunks-too much effort to chew), and there it is: the face of the couch potato generation.
I am a pre-boomer-by 1 year-I walk 10 miles every day, rapidly. I love garage time and can get down, wallow under a hot rod in 20 degree weather and hoist and move engines, camp in a 50 year old 10' Arrow trailer without a TV, Microwave, toilet or heater. I love it, I love my age. I have aches and pains, we all do, the "gimme now" generation will too when they get older. Boomers need to learn to live with the aches and pains, walk, run, lift, wallow and fart with vigor and ignore the discomfort it is all part of growing old-or growing young, (it takes a long time to grow young). I think that is the difference, my generation deals with discomfort. A large part of the boomer group uses aging as an attention getting excuse to to make and effort and the "gimme" generation begrudges that aging is real.
The trick to a spring in one's step is not to let the mind age with the body.
This business about blaming everything on my generation (boomers) is a load of bologna. This is another ploy to bitch about social security and medicare and the tactics of the previous administration to scare the hell out of everyone with doomsday scenarios. My particular mobility problems arise from vigourous exercise for 24 years serving my country where it was a condition of employment to stay fit enough to pass the physical fitness testing requirements. Jogging, running, extensive walking, half marathons, 5k's 10k's, fun walks, you name it. (knees, spine, feet) Additionally, we are the first generation to mature having primarily worked at computer workstations. (carpal tunnel, spondylosis etc...) Twenty some odd years sitting in front of a VTC for the majority of your day and keyboarding will take it's toll on all generations to come especially the generations to come with much more extensive keyboarding and texting and working gaming consoles etc....
Most people my age (55) or older that I know with mobility problems are otherwise relatively fit and have exercised throughout their lives. All you boomer bashers stand by for your own initiation to this imobile club. It is guaranteed. Remember this especially when you have opted out of social security and stuck zip, nada, nothing into your retirement plans. At least we paid for ours up front.
So many people spouting off about things and people they know nothing about!?
As the largest segment of the population, boomers will ever face these new challenges Whining or lamenting doesn't solve the problem. There are architects and home remodelers who focus on this for making your current home manageable...even though we think it won't ever be necessary. Karen Braitmayer is one such architect who writes on planning for this time IN YOUR OWN HOME. Here are a few of her suggestions: http://www.silverplanet.com/housing/home-modifications-help-you-age-place/55953
I would suggest that obesity may contribute to some of the mobility problems discussed and another consideration is the boomers increased activities such as jogging and running which can have deteriorating effects on joints.
The last paragraph states:
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