Long Live the boomers!

Last year, there was a terrific article in the Wall Street Journal, When We're All 64, that we would like to bring to the forefront again --describing the changes the boomers will bring to our current notion of aging. After all, as the article says, the boomers are the ones who introduced “rock 'n' roll, working moms, Earth Day, sport-utility vehicles, Botox, shacking up, Viagra and Starbucks” into pop culture. (Can you even imagine a world without these things?) Boomers have been responsible for a lot! In addition, they are also responsible for the women’s movement and the end of segregation.

So, it is only logical to think they will resist the old notion of aging and retiring. Can you imagine boomers just sitting in a rocking chair not doing anything? (Don’t’ worry, neither can we.) Boomers are one of the most active, multitasking generation around. (We wouldn’t be surprised if they created the notion of multitasking and made it the norm).

The next couple of decades will be very interesting indeed to see what the boomers do/create in their retirement (after all, according to one survey 75% of boomers plan to keep working past their retirement) and the products that will be created to make it more comfortable for the boomers to age and live longer.

And you can bet boomers will live a much longer life than the generation before them. Especially if they have doctors championing for them such as Dr. Ridge (who as some of you may know is a CareTALK board member and an assistant professor at Mount Sinai Medical School, among his other 10 responsibilities) and Dr. Stephen Yang, the chief of thoracic surgery at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution who was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal article, Senior Operator. It is Dr. Yang's "passion" and commitment to accept older patients (those in their 70s and 80s) normally passed over for surgery because of their age. He believes they “’the older patient is underserved’...[and they] don't get the kind of aggressive treatment they need to be cured."

According to the Census Bureau, “the number of older Americans is expected to increase 13% by 2010 and 53% by 2020, making seniors the fastest-growing age group in the country.” (53!! That’s huge!) Doctors like Dr. Ridge and Dr. Yang will make it even easier for those in their 80s to definitely be able to live another 10 (maybe even 20?) years.