Prevent Premature Senility

Being physically and mentally active is the key to prevent old age complications.

- I.M. Soni

Many over 50 underestimate the toughness of the human body and fail to fully use the life they possess. Some increase their sleep until it becomes enervating. The man who gets more than eight hours of sleep is likely to have less energy than one who gets less sleep.

Capacity to handle liquor diminishes and some develop a reaction to alcohol that is almost an allergy. Frustrations and tension are responsible for as many heart patients as ulcer patients.

A look at the general health of middle-aged people points that the middle years are relatively disease free. Middle years should be the prime of life, a pleasant plateau from which one can handle problems and pleasures with full appreciation of senses.

There are no significant changes in the organs of a middle-aged person. Unless one has a history of heart complications, the few changes that occur before 55 do not limit his physical activity. There are no important changes in the function of the glands, and the secretion rate in the blood remains stable.

Yet, there is a high rate of breakdown, and neurotic behaviour in men between 40 and 55. Thus it becomes important to ask several pertinent questions regarding lifestyle.

Do they undergo unknown functional changes? Do they set their standards too high? Can they avoid bad behaviour symptoms that appear after retirement?

Answer to these questions has come from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) authorities on both the foibles and the fortitudes of men in the middle years. As a psychiatrist, Dr. Charles Wahi is familiar with their behaviour patterns.