In the Loop: Staying Young in the Age of Aging

In the Loop: Staying Young in the Age of Aging

By
Dana Sparks

November 25, 2015

This article appeared November 19, 2015 In the Loop.

You can't beat the clock. No matter who you are and what you do, you're going to get older. The hours keep ticking by. And if you're like us, that brings a couple questions to mind: "What is getting older going to be like?" And, "Is there anything that can be done to make it better?" National Geographic's new television series "Breakthrough" will explore those very questions (and more) in a segment titled "The Age of Aging" on Sunday, Nov. 29. (Put it on your fast-changing calendar and download and view a segment of the program on Mayo research.)

The segment is directed and narrated by Ron Howard (yes, that Ron Howard) and has a strong Mayo Clinic connection. It includes interviews with retired residents living in Rochester. And it will feature the latest research developments from the Mayo Clinic Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging. That includes work being done to "extend the healthy years of lifespan," a phrase researchers in the Center on Aging use to refer to "the period of life when individuals are independent and free" from the aches, pains and struggles of chronic health conditions.

"There are so many questions to be made around the question of aging," Howard says in a promotional trailerfor the segment. "It's, on one hand, wonderful to imagine living long, feeling better, being productive well into the golden years. But also important in taking a look at our moment to recognize that it's a struggle."

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