Scene 1: It can be seen in many offices that the secretary of the top person in the business is sitting outside the boss’s cabin and most of the employees reporting directly to him sit around him in the big hall. Usually, that secretary of 40-45 years or senior age group stands up as soon as the phone call comes. People sitting near him can only say – ‘Yes sir’, ‘Okay sir’ or ‘Done immediately sir’. Then he picks up some files from the side shelf, comes back to the seat and starts working. Sometimes he goes to someone and asks for help or gives instructions and then returns to the desk. In the middle of the hall, two 20-30 year old young marketing executives laughingly gossip – ‘Look, the spoon is standing. I’m sure it was the boss’s call. The second executive nods and gives a thumbs up. Scene 2: A 37 year old mother says – ‘Son Raju, please open this jam jar for mummy. It seems that if it is left in the fridge for too long, I am not able to open it. The 11 year old son comes running and quickly opens the jar. Mother says- ‘My son is a lion.’ The child returns after hearing this praise. Scenario No. 3: For those who are not of this age, when they go to the supermarket, try to remember what to buy without looking at the list. If you fail in this memory game then you are under serious stress. Metabolic health experts say that all three cases have one thing in common – ‘pre-frailty’. This means aging has started at the cellular level. Mitochondria are being damaged in every cell, which gives us the energy to breathe, think and move. Diet and exercise can reduce these losses. When the secretary mentioned above went to the doctor and said that ‘I find it difficult to talk to the boss as he walks so fast’, the doctor advised him to change his working style. Since most of his work was desk based, standing on every call became a part of his exercise, so that his body remained flexible. Whereas the housewife in the second scene did not understand this change in health and kept blaming the refrigerator for her deteriorating health. There are two peaks of aging in life. One between 40 and 45 and the other at 60 years. In women this process can start even at the age of 37 years. Doctors recommend regular and balanced exercise for the growth of healthy mitochondria. This includes light jogging, swimming or walking at regular intervals. After the release of neuroscientist and health journalist David Cox’s new book ‘The Age Code’, ‘pre-frailty’ is in the news these days, especially among morning walkers. In the book, Cox provides an accessible roadmap to how diet and lifestyle affect the biological aging process and how to use this knowledge to stay healthy and live longer. They may recommend vitamins D or K, intermediate fasting, or strength training exercises. Experts say that ‘if a person goes to the gym, but remains inactive the rest of the day, then his age may increase in a bad way.’ Therefore, good mobility is important to age optimally. The idea is that ‘peak aging’ will occur in everyone’s life, depending on how one has used one’s body. If one understands the signals of the body and identifies them in time with the help of a doctor, then it is easy to compensate for this loss with the procedures suggested by experts.
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N. Raghuraman’s Column: To solve health problems, first understand its process.
