In 2011 the leading edge of the cohort known as the Baby Boom Generation turns 65. 10,000 more will cross that threshold every day for the next 19 years, according to the Pew Research Center.
But in America today with its glorification of youth, we don’t pass beyond middle age willingly. We seek to defy gravity, resist the ravages of time and try not to think about the coming “sunset years.” In fact, parts of our bodies reached peak physical performance long before middle age set in. The downhill slide begins much earlier than many of us think.
ideastream launched multimedia coverage on radio, television and web of the aging Baby Boomers. We explored what’s happening in their eyes, ears, bladders, bones, skin, sexuality, hair, hormones, memory, muscles, and moods. Aging is natural and normal but what exactly is happening in our bodies? Why does our risk of cancer increase so exponentially with age? Do we have a choice about how we age? Should Boomers develop more acceptance of the inevitability of aches and pains? Or, are there things they can still do to improve odds of aging well?