{"id":2956,"date":"2026-04-03T15:30:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/old\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T15:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T15:30:21","slug":"old","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/03\/old\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Old\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Illustration by Liz Zonarich\/Harvard Staff<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\n\t\t\tHealth\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\u2018Old\u2019\t<\/h1>\n

\n\t\t\tRethinking what it means to age as humans live longer and healthier\t\t<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tSy Boles\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/address>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\t7 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/h2>\n

\n\t\t\t\tA series about meanings\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

An American born in 2024 can expect to live<\/a> to 79. That\u2019s up 0.6 years from 2023 and the longest life expectancy in U.S. history. <\/p>\n

But living longer and living well are not the same thing. About 93 percent<\/a> of the nation\u2019s 58 million adults over 65 live with at least one chronic health condition, such as hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, or diabetes. After age 55, about 42 percent <\/a>of Americans go on to develop dementia. <\/p>\n

Despite that, an increasingly visible cohort of older Americans aren\u2019t just living longer. They\u2019re also extending their healthspans, the years of life free from age-related illness or cognitive decline. In doing so, they\u2019re creating new models for what it means to age well and challenging some of the oldest cultural assumptions about the last third of life. <\/p>\n

For the latest installment of \u201cOne Word Answer,\u201d a series focused on connotations, we asked three scholars to dive into \u201cold.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

A historical view of frailty <\/h4>\n

When Maud Jansen was completing clinical rotations, she found herself troubled by the way some physicians spoke about older patients, as though certain outcomes were forgone conclusions before treatment had even begun. <\/p>\n

She recalled a team of doctors discussing an elderly woman with a hip fracture and a stroke. One doctor remarked, \u201cWell, she\u2019ll go to rehab and wither away.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s thorny, because in a way we have to accept that people get older and might have bad outcomes,\u201d Jansen said. \u201cBut then again, are we sure?\u201d <\/p>\n

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“It\u2019s thorny, because in a way we have to accept that people get older and might have bad outcomes. But then again, are we sure?”<\/p>\n

Maud Jansen<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Now an M.D.-Ph.D. candidate in Harvard\u2019s Department of the History of Science, Jansen studies frailty \u2014 an umbrella term that emerged in the 1980s to describe a set of symptoms, such as hip fractures, incontinence, and delirium, that are common among older adults, and to which older adults are uniquely susceptible because of the cumulative effects of aging. Jansen examines the longer history of medical care for these conditions to understand how assumptions about old age shaped care and medical responsibility for bad outcomes. <\/p>\n

Before the 19th century, the dominant view of aging was one of inexorable decay, she explained. Older patients, considered incurable and therefore unworthy of treatments, might be sent to almshouses. A hip fracture was frequently fatal, less from the injury itself than from what followed: prolonged immobility, infection, or neglect. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m finding as I\u2019m researching these conditions of frailty is that the cultural understanding of people as frail can, and did, naturalize bad outcomes as inevitable. In this way, beliefs about frailty foreclosed the possibility of effective intervention or improvements to care.\u201d <\/p>\n

The 20th century brought new frameworks. The Great Depression and the passage of Social Security in the 1930s gave rise to concepts like retirement and the \u201cgolden years\u201d \u2014 the idea that old age might be a distinct and important phase of life. In 1969, the word \u201cageism\u201d entered the lexicon to describe discrimination against older adults. A year later, a Philadelphia woman named Maggie Kuhn founded the advocacy group that became known as the Gray Panthers to challenge the idea that it was normal for older adults to simply withdraw from society. <\/p>\n

Today, Jansen is delighted by depictions of seniors living active and engaged lives, like older adult influencers sharing their passions for fashion or fitness, or TV shows like Netflix\u2019s \u201cGrace and Frankie.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great thing that older adults are more robust into later life. But then the question becomes, what do you do with it? Has society really carved out good roles for them? I think that\u2019s an ongoing question.\u201d <\/p>\n

Luck, lifestyle, and privilege<\/h4>\n

Jeanne Louise Calment, who died in 1997 at age 122, is the oldest person in history whose age has been verified. Scientists generally accept her age range, 120 to 125, as a hard upper limit \u2014 at least for now. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe median is getting higher and higher while the maximum does not shift,\u201d said William Mair<\/a>, professor of molecular metabolism at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.<\/p>\n

Humans could expect to live for 35 years for most of our evolutionary history. It wasn\u2019t until interventions like clean drinking water and antibiotics that we lived long enough to develop chronic age-related health conditions. Now, Mair said, researchers are focused on helping more people get closer to Calment\u2019s age and get there with their health intact. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome people have incredible health \u2014 centenarians, or people who are super active into their late 90s. That\u2019s not just luck,\u201d said Mair. \u201cWhether it\u2019s optimism or social engagement or nutrition, we can begin to bring these things together and see how they do it.\u201d <\/p>\n

The biology of exceptional aging is increasingly legible. Researchers can now measure what they call biological age, which is distinct from chronological age, using markers of DNA damage, metabolic function, and cellular health. Older adults who age well often show the biological profile of someone significantly younger: say, a 95-year-old with the cellular profile of a 75-year-old. <\/p>\n

Diet, exercise, sleep, and social connections all appear to influence the rate at which the body ages. So do income, education, and even ZIP code. <\/p>\n

In Boston, Mair pointed out, a recent report<\/a> found a 23-year difference in life expectancy between the neighborhoods of Back Bay and Roxbury, which are barely two miles apart. It\u2019s a stunning gulf, but it\u2019s also an improvement: In 2007, the discrepancy was 33 years. <\/p>\n

\u201cAging is something that you can speed up and slow down through policy, through drugs and genetics, through things like exercise and healthy food,\u201d Mair said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean we can all live to 150, but it does mean that there are things we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fighting the urge to retreat <\/h4>\n

Long before patients with Alzheimer\u2019s disease show signs of cognitive decline, they often display behavioral changes, says Nancy Donovan<\/a>, a Harvard Medical School associate professor of psychiatry at Brigham and Women\u2019s Hospital and the director of the Neuropsychiatry of Aging Research Group. Those symptoms can include irritability, anxiety, sleep disturbances, and a loss of motivation. <\/p>\n

This can create a cycle, she said, both for people with Alzheimer\u2019s and for adults with the usual slumps in stamina and strength that accompany even robust older age. Older adults who begin to feel the early effects of cognitive and physical decline often respond by pulling back from the work and social engagements that structured their days. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople start to decline, and then they withdraw,\u201d Donovan said. \u201cBut those things we do in our everyday life actually support our ongoing cognition and healthy aging. Disengagement may precipitate further decline.\u201d <\/p>\n

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“Disengagement may precipitate further decline.”<\/p>\n

Nancy Donovan<\/cite><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The psychological challenges of later life are daunting. Older adults face the loss of friends and loved ones. They must learn to rely on others for care. And they must reconstruct a sense of purpose uncoupled from their professional identities. <\/p>\n

\u201cOne does have to respond to these various threats to well-being, with the help of your social network and your resources,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re getting inundated with advice for healthy physical aging and healthy cognitive aging, but not healthy psychological aging. What supports a positive psychological transition towards the end of life?\u201d <\/p>\n

Donovan\u2019s prescription is an echo of groups like the Gray Panthers. She encourages older adults to fight the urge to retreat. \u201cAmp up your exercise. Pay more attention to your health behaviors. Stay curious and engaged in the world.\u201d <\/p>\n

But at age 69, Donovan knows from personal experience that there is something uniquely positive about aging, too. She and her peers are traveling the world, trying new things, and investing in their hobbies. \u201cYou can appreciate your life better from the perspective of values and meaning, and this can guide you into late life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re relishing this period of freedom,\u201d she added. \u201cMany of us have parents who have passed away, so our major caretaking responsibilities have ended. If you still have your health, it\u2019s a peak phase. The years before 75 or 80 can be the best time of life.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Illustration by Liz Zonarich\/Harvard Staff Health \u2018Old\u2019 Rethinking what it means to age as humans live longer and healthier Sy Boles Harvard Staff Writer March 30, 2026 7 min read A series about meanings An American born in 2024 can expect to live to 79. That\u2019s up 0.6 years from 2023 and the longest life …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2957,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"loftocean_post_primary_category":0,"loftocean_post_format_gallery":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_ids":"","loftocean_post_format_gallery_urls":"","loftocean_post_format_video_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_video_url":"","loftocean_post_format_video_type":"","loftocean_post_format_video":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_type":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_url":"","loftocean_post_format_audio_id":0,"loftocean_post_format_audio":"","loftocean-featured-post":"","loftocean-like-count":0,"loftocean-view-count":13,"tinysalt_single_post_intro_label":"","tinysalt_single_post_intro_description":"","tinysalt_hide_post_featured_image":"","tinysalt_post_featured_media_position":"","tinysalt_single_site_header_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header":"0","tinysalt_single_custom_sticky_site_header_style":"sticky-scroll-up","tinysalt_single_site_footer_source":"","tinysalt_single_custom_site_footer":"0","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-staying-healthy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanvoiceofhealth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}