Nine Myths of Aging: Maximizing the Quality of Later Life

This book does an excellent job of showing people how to age well. It's best point is made on the very last page, when it points out, "The odds are overwhelming that we will be 100 percent unsuccessful at those things we never attempt."The author spends a chapter each disproving the following rumors: 1) Aging is Boring Subject, 2) All Old People Are Pretty Much the Same, 3) An Unsound Body Equals an Unsound Mind, 4) Memory is the First Thing to Go, 5) Use It or Lose It, 6) Old Dogs Can't Learn New Tricks, 7) Old People Are Isolated and Lonely, 8) Old People Are Depresses, and Have Every Right to Be, and 9) Wisdom Requires Being Smart and Elderly.The author is a director of aging research at Harvard University, and he has written this book primarily for younger adults (30's and 40's) to plan for optimal aging, as well as for adults up into their 60's, 70's, and 80's. One of the MOST important points he makes is that blood pressure IN YOUNG ADULTHOOD (especially in the 30's and 40's) should be CAREFULLY MONITORED each year. A jump of diastolic pressure of 10 points during this time period is a danger signal. Most of the non-Alzheimer's adults who go downhill mentally are those who have had heart or circulatory problems, so one of his biggest points in the book is to do everything you can to avoid this particular problem, especially when you are YOUNG (in your 30's and 40's).The only reason I have rated the book four stars instead of five is that some of the information he discusses was self-evident to me, and he did not include a chapter on how to maximize aging specifically for people who are already in poor health, or already frail in their 50's or 60's, such as having to be in a wheelchair, or use a walker, even at a relatively young age.

Powell's style is easy to follow. His points are unusual in that they break some of the long-held notions of "successful aging". What's more, he relies on solid data to back up his claims. Thus,this is not as "new age" book along the lines of a Deepak Chopra book. Powell is much more genuine and believable.

This fascinating book provides ideas which I now include in my daily living. I've given copies to my 86 year old mother and my late mid-life contemporaries. The author uses his personal experiences and everyday examples to make research results clear and understandable, in a very readable book. I particularly like the goal of the subtitle "Maximizing the Quality of Later Life," When I lend my copy to friends who do not like to even think about aging (some with multiple 39th birthdays), I suggest they read the 14 pages of the Introduction and the 16 pages of the last chapter "Summing Up: Guidelines For Optimal Aging." This gives them a quick overview and ideas for what to do now. For me, this is a "must read" for anyone who is past midlife and trying to "age optimally, or for those who deal with us.