Alicia Arbaje: "It is inevitable
that you will get dementia."
No, no, and no.
Ebi Ofrey: "Never smiling staves off wrinkles."
Wrinkles are not as a result of smiling.
Arbaje: Even if it is, do we really want to stop smiling?
"You don't need as much sleep when you get older."
You always need sleep.
Hi, my name is Dr. Alicia Arbaje.
Ofrey: And my name is Dr. Ebi Ofrey.
Arbaje: And today, we're going to be debunking
myths about aging.
"It's harder to learn new things as you get older."
It may be a little slower on some things,
especially if we're not familiar with them,
but as we get older,
we become more able to understand things
that are more abstract as opposed to concrete.
So I think this bodes well for older adults.
Ofrey: As Dr. Arbaje said, I think it's just different.
Older adults are more likely to learn things faster
that don't have to do with technology.
But once technology comes into play,
it takes them a bit longer.
"How you age is predetermined by your genes."
Arbaje: This is one of my favorite ones to talk about.
I think that genes are way less important than we think
and lifestyle is way more important than we think.
And we have the ability to turn genes on and off;
how we eat, sleep, live, love,
and exercise makes the biggest difference of all.
Ofrey: So, your habits from youth
play a key role in how your aging process goes.
Arbaje: "It is inevitable that you will get dementia."
No, no, and no.
Dementia is not a normal part of aging,
and it's important to understand that if you're having
memory problems or problems planning
or being oriented or getting around,
that is a sign that something needs to be checked out.
Ofrey: Only a small percentage of older adults
actually have dementia.
So if you have problems with remembering things,
you need to understand that it could also be due to
an underlying problem that can be solved.
"You shouldn't exercise when you are older
because you are prone to injuries."
If you have underlying conditions
you are aware of, it's important
you pay attention to the exercises you do
because your underlying condition
might affect your risk of injury.
But old age alone is not a risk for injury.
Arbaje: I wholeheartedly agree and would add that
there are different kinds of exercises
no matter what situation you are in.
You could be bedbound or in a chair or in a wheelchair
and still be able to do different kinds of exercises.
"You don't need as much sleep when you get older."
You always need sleep.
And the amount of sleep you need over time
is probably gonna be pretty consistent.
And the way to know if you're getting enough or not
is to understand how well you're doing the next morning.
Are you able to function the next day
and do the things that you have to do?
Ofrey: As we go into sort of retirement,
most of the time we have more time
available to us during the day,
and many times we take more naps than we should.
As such, we should be able to adjust our daily habits
to ensure we don't spend most of the day sleeping
and then not be able to sleep at night.
"You'll gain weight because your metabolism slows down."
I feel there's a chance of weight gain
not because your metabolism slows down,
but because you are more inactive at the time.
We need to still remain active the older we get.
Arbaje: Your metabolism should also stay
pretty consistent throughout our lives.
So, I really think that this can empower people
to not feel like old age is going
to be about a lot of decline.
The next myth is that,
"People lose their sex drives as they age."
So, this one's kind of interesting.
If people are losing their sex drive, per se,
it could be because of an underlying chronic situation,
a chronic condition, it could be related to medications.
People's relationships change over time,
and what becomes important to them
may change or evolve over time.
It doesn't necessarily mean that
they wouldn't have a sex drive.
Ofrey: I totally agree with Dr. Arbaje.
The sense that people may have different interests
and different ways of showing affection the older they get.
And, again, there may be underlying conditions
that may make sexual intercourse
not as comfortable as it used to be.
So, "Getting old makes you grouchy."
Arbaje: We see how older people are depicted
in cartoons and in movies,
and often this is the stereotype.
Grumpy Old Man: I don't like this desk,
and I don't like this chair,
and I don't like holidays,
flippity floppity floopity floody!
Ofrey: We realize that a majority of our patients
are not grouchy, but they seem to be a bit sad
because of the, you know, the nesting syndrome,
being alone in the house, and things like that.
But grouchiness is not a feature of old age.
Arbaje: That is so well said.
Grouchiness is not a feature of old age.
I do think that
depression is a lot higher in older adults,
or it can be,
and that can be because of
underlying chronic conditions, life circumstance,
and those are things that depression
can manifest as irritability in older people,
and that may be mistaken for grouchiness.
"You will lose your eyesight."
Losing eyesight is usually
related to a problem in other organs as well.
So it's a sign of an underlying condition.
Poor circulation or diabetes
or high blood pressure or strokes.
Now, what we do know
is that the acuity of your vision
can change over time.
So, the sharpness of your vision,
but that is not the same as losing your eyesight.
Ofrey: You may have certain visual impairments,
but not loss of eyesight.
And all those impairments have corrective measures
that can be applied to ensure your sight returns,
if not to normal, to almost normal.
So, "Your teeth fall out as you get older."
Again, there's a popular saying over here meaning,
"Don't prepare for war in time of war."
Meaning you prepare for old age before you get old.
Most of the time, people take care of their bodies
but seem to neglect oral health.
And that's why it seems that
most times people lose their teeth.
Arbaje: Your teeth are so important
because all those bacteria travel to other parts
of our body, so it's really important to keep,
as I said earlier, all our organs in good shape,
and that will help our teeth stay in good shape as well.
"Aging means more medications."
So, this one is unfortunately partially true,
but it doesn't have to be.
It does seem that the older people get
and the more healthcare they receive,
the more medications they might end up on.
The theme here is how you eat,
how you sleep, how you exercise, how you love,
how you pray. All of these things matter.
Even if you are on medications,
there is still a chance you can come off of medications
with lifestyle changes.
So, anyone who's on a medication,
I just encourage them to see their healthcare provider,
geriatrician, ideally, and ask several times a year,
"Do I still need this medication?
And if I do, do I still need it at the same dose?
And if I still need it, what else can I do in my life
so that I can eventually come off
of this medication if possible?"
Ofrey: Interestingly, I was thinking the same thing
that Arbaje was thinking.
And so it's important to note that
if you have a healthy lifestyle,
you are less likely to require most of the medication
many elderly people take at the moment
because you have prevented the conditions
that require them.
"Never smiling staves off wrinkles."
Wrinkles are not as a result of smiling.
Arbaje: Even if it is, do we really want to stop smiling?
Because smiling has so many other benefits.
Wrinkles are about loss of collagen,
loss of hydration, and not so much
how you're using your face.
So please don't stop smiling.
And please instead hydrate if you're worried about wrinkles,
make sure you're eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Really, skin is an inside job.
"Eating fewer calories will extend your life."
What we know is the kind of calories you eat
are more important than how many.
So, our bodies run on glucose,
and the more pure sources of glucose
you can consume, the better.
Fruit has the most viable available
source of glucose available to our bodies.
And when I say eat way more fruits and vegetables,
I mean way more.
Four apples, three mangoes, six potatoes.
Like, not this tiny-side-salad stuff that we think about.
Make that the majority of your meal.
It is hard to get fresh produce all year round,
depending on where you are.
And it can be more expensive for some people.
I am not saying that it's important to eat organic,
although if you can, that's even better,
but I don't want people to shun getting access
to whatever kinds of fruit and vegetable they have.
Ofrey: Preparation is the key to success.
So your lifestyle, what you do,
your habits you form before you get older,
they'll go a long way to ensuring
you have a healthier and longer life.
Arbaje: Adjust your attitude about aging.
We have this idea that aging is about decline
and being dependent on other people.
Aging is a beautiful part of life.
It's a time when we become more wise,
when we become able to give back to others,
and we as geriatricians are here to support you.