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The quest for the test tube of youth

CAROLYN ABRAHAM

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 10:50 AM EST 14/01/09

First they beat the squares, the war and the patriarchy. Now the baby-boom generation wants to outwit Father Time, writes Carolyn Abraham ...Read the full article

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  1. michael luger from montreal, quebec, Canada writes: I think that is appropriate to include opinions from those who have achieved immortality themselves:

    One has to pay dearly for immortality; one has to die several times while one is still alive. Friedrich Nietzsche

    He ne'er is crowned with immortality Who fears to follow where airy voices lead. John Keats

    Immortality: A toy which people cry for, And on their knees apply for, Dispute, contend and lie for, And if allowed Would be right proud Eternally to die for. Ambrose Bierce

    Life is the childhood of our immortality. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    The immortality of the soul is a matter which is of so great consequence to us and which touches us so profoundly that we must have lost all feeling to be indifferent about it. Blaise Pascal

    Immortality is not a gift, Immortality is an achievement; And only those who strive mightily Shall possess it. Edgar Lee Masters
  2. Olivia Beck from Canada writes: Of course this generation would be seeking "immortality."

    Death is the natural consequence of living. It's amazing, to me, that we don't accept that yet.
  3. Duncan Morris from Canada writes: Recently I shuttled my 13 1/2 year old Malamute Husky to the local vet for some Kennel shots. A young vet from Australia, a locum, attended her. She listened to her heart, checked her muscles, looked into her mouth then looked at me with a puzzled look on her face. Concerned, I immediately said "anything wrong doctor?" She replied by saying "this is not your average garden variety backyard dog. If I hadn't seen her teeth I would not believe she was 13 years old (incidentally the oldest dog of that breed that she had witnessed) !" The scientist in her could hardly contain her questions "what do you do with this dog? and what do you feed her?"
    I replied with a certain pride "my wife and I are marathon runners and this dog has run 50 kilometres a week since she was a year old and we feed her only the best quality dog food appropriate for her age and weight and in modest proportions."
    Immortality is for the Gods and as such is unachievable but a full active life is within most peoples reach.
  4. Brad Reddekopp from Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada writes:
    I don't want to live forever -- only until I no longer desire life.

    Death is natural, but so is sickness and so is the desire to overcome it.
  5. Vic Hotte from Kettleby, Canada writes: Well said, Duncan Morris from Canada! All the best to you, your wife and your Malamute friend.
  6. J. G. Gibson from Canada writes: Averaging ages at death is not a clever way to present life expectancy. Death in infancy has to be considered. So too are epidemics and wars. Look at the population age distributions in the Old Statistical Accounts, 1791 to 1799, for Presbyterian Scotland --- few centenarians but many parishes with over eighties. Look in the cemeteries; there is no obvious c.40 or c50 median age at death. And, when there were charges made to register vital statistics (legally required) one has to consider that sector that chose to remain beyond records.
  7. Hart Oldenburg from Canada writes: Beware Baby-Boomers-- if you allowed yourself to be propped up by deceptive money-making schemes. Admiring the price-tags in a health food store? Well, I saved at least $50,000!
    I celebrated my 84th 4 days ago. Am I age-conscious yet? Should I be? I'm in grate shape, all organs functioning "normal", no medicine, vitamins, supplements ever. I don't do the grain-green bit! Don't mention DNA please, nobody would want mine.

    More? Google my name-----------------Hart---------------
  8. Mr. Coffee from Victoria, Canada writes: Enough stories of the baby-boomer generation, OK?
  9. Truitt Bradshaw from Canada writes: Um, they didn't beat the squares, they became them. They didn't beat the war; they are in fact financing the ones we have now. And good grief, did they EVER not beat the patriarchy.
  10. richard riewer from Montreal, Canada writes: Truitt Bradshaw from Canada writes: Um, they didn't beat the squares, they became them. They didn't beat the war; they are in fact financing the ones we have now. And good grief, did they EVER not beat the patriarchy.

    Because they are now part of the Patriarchy. Right on.
  11. Pamphleteer . from Canada writes: nothing is more pathetic than seeing old people trying to act like a bunch of 20somethings. Until something is found that can actually reverse the physical effects of aging, please, keep your wrinkly stooped over haggard bodies out of the "disco."
  12. Gisele Theriault from Canada writes:
    Palmphleteer, one of the great bonuses of age is not caring about the shallow opinions of others. Life is to be lived, no matter what age someone is. If someone enjoys discoing why shouldn't they go ahead and have fun? How is that "pathetic"? Go out, have fun, and stop worrying about the "appropriateness" or "appearance" of others who are doing the same thing you are.
  13. Exer cist from Canada writes: Agreed - very tired of hearing about the baby boomers, especially as they have conveniently morph their juvenile narcissism into ageing egotism. If this generation shows signs of living forever, expect a spike in suicides among the younger generations.

    To keep one's health and not to die before one's time is - and always has been - a reasonable human aspiration. To die with dignity, at an appropriate time, and without great pain is surely no less reasonable an aspiration. To do so however requires an acceptance of one's mortality, and of one's finite role in an infinite universe, that I fear this generation is singularly ill-equipped for.
  14. S Kimmel from Toronto, Canada writes: I was hoping to have read something about the chemicals in our air, water and food as it affects healthy aging.
  15. HeyBoppaRebop SheBop from Canada writes: It makes me laugh to see young people making ignorant remarks about the old geezers. Some day, if they are lucky, these snarky youths will be geezers themselves and the youths around them will be telling them to get their grey hair outta here.

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