Word: comfortable
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Comfort suggests ornery behavior with doctors too, particularly if they imply that old people are supposed to be sick. "Remember the man of 104 who, when he complained of a stiff knee, was told, 'After all you can't expect to be agile,' and replied, 'My left knee's 104, too, and that doesn't hurt...
...less creative or mentally intact than anyone else. Though the elderly are more prone to chronic diseases, they get fewer acute illnesses than the general population; a person over 65 has an average of 1.3 acute illnesses a year, compared with 2.1 a year for all ages. Comfort cites a Duke University study showing that about half of a group of people over 65 who returned for periodic checkups had no detectable physical decline over periods ranging from three to 13 years. Nor are new emotional and mental disorders very likely in old age: true senility is uncommon, and only...
...aging] are supposed to be physically and intellectually infirm." Example: many old people are uncertain, meandering drivers because they are expected to be, just as many women come to adopt the male notion of the dithering woman driver. "Older, fit drivers are the least dangerous on the road," writes Comfort. "By 70-plus you have experience, and the accident-prone fraction of the population is dead or disqualified...
Clearly intent on consciousness raising among the elderly, Comfort urges those over 65 to take no guff about their age. One of his encyclopedia entries is titled "Dignity. Stand on this. (See Pulling Rank.)" He advises "bloody-mind-edness"("Be ruthless to rudeness." "Show you expect respect"). Any use of titles such as Pop or Granny must be punished. "Point out acidly that you have a name and if they don't know it they can damn well ask, and that you were earning a living when they were still eating baby food...
Because 20% of the American population will be over 65 by the year 2000, Comfort sees oldsters developing into a formidable pressure group demanding more sympathetic treatment from society. The group's eventual goal: the commitment of Government research money to retard the effects of aging. Scientists have already found ways to slow the rate of aging in rats and other mammals. Comfort believes the same can be done for humans, so that a person of 70 or 75 would have a body like that of a 60-year-old today. Says Comfort: "Aging is a biological process involving...