old age sucks for women!
Leissa is newly retired, just sixty, and having adapted to grey hair, wrinkles, poor hearing and eyesight, partial incontinence due to weakening of the pelvic muscles after childbirth, a dental plate, loss of libido and the inevitable creaks of ageing joints she is terrified of the more serious degenerative diseases that await her and admits that old age sucks a lot more for women than it does for men.
"My general health has always been pretty good, but by the time I turned 60 this year I was well and truly ready for retirement," sighs Leissa. "On top of everything else, I had developed high blood pressure and had lost a lot of my energy."
"We are so hung up about the physical manifestations of ageing that we completely forget that horrible things are happening to our inner organs, too – our hearts, lungs, liver, kidneys and bowels, etc, are ageing as fast as everything else!"
"Apparently, our blood vessels lose their elasticity from the age of 40 onwards and the heart has to work harder," explains Leissa. "By continuing to work long hours and doing my normal hectic activities I was setting myself up for heart disease, so I took the opportunity to retire early and take things easy."
"I’m not overweight, I maintain a healthy lifestyle and I am a happy, positive person," says Leissa, "but no matter what the esteemed medical authorities say, or the snake oil purveyors of potions and lotions say, all of that is no protection whatsoever against the degenerative diseases that await us all. As mere mortals, degeneration of all vital organs and then death is normal and inevitable."
"There's digestive degeneration to look forward to; the loss of smell; short term memory loss (which I fear I already have, now where did I put my keys!); a decrease in the ability to learn and concentrate; slower reflexes; loss of strength; and the dreaded dementia," sighs Leissa. "If that weren’t bad enough, then there's lung, kidney and liver degeneration and the possibility of cancer and late onset diabetes - all of which, thank God, I’ve escaped so far, but some of my same age friends haven't."
“And, as well as the physical degenerations, we must also face psychological degeneration,” says Leissa. “Depression, I believe, goes along with every physical loss.”
"We're all different, we age in different ways, and die of different causes, but we all suffer some sort of degenerative disease (mostly heart disease) and no matter what you do, ageing is inevitable, you can't turn back time and you can't live forever," sighs Leissa. "None of us is immune from the ravages of time exacerbated now more than ever by modern lifestyle stresses and environmental factors - and in the end we all succumb."
"Turning 60 was a giant milestone,” confides Leissa. “I am now very aware that my days are numbered and that from herein out it is going to be a very bumpy ride."
"Take my word for it: old age sucks, it started sucking at 50 and gets suckier with each passing year!"
Read Leissa's other story the menopausal years
"My general health has always been pretty good, but by the time I turned 60 this year I was well and truly ready for retirement," sighs Leissa. "On top of everything else, I had developed high blood pressure and had lost a lot of my energy."
"We are so hung up about the physical manifestations of ageing that we completely forget that horrible things are happening to our inner organs, too – our hearts, lungs, liver, kidneys and bowels, etc, are ageing as fast as everything else!"
"Apparently, our blood vessels lose their elasticity from the age of 40 onwards and the heart has to work harder," explains Leissa. "By continuing to work long hours and doing my normal hectic activities I was setting myself up for heart disease, so I took the opportunity to retire early and take things easy."
"I’m not overweight, I maintain a healthy lifestyle and I am a happy, positive person," says Leissa, "but no matter what the esteemed medical authorities say, or the snake oil purveyors of potions and lotions say, all of that is no protection whatsoever against the degenerative diseases that await us all. As mere mortals, degeneration of all vital organs and then death is normal and inevitable."
"There's digestive degeneration to look forward to; the loss of smell; short term memory loss (which I fear I already have, now where did I put my keys!); a decrease in the ability to learn and concentrate; slower reflexes; loss of strength; and the dreaded dementia," sighs Leissa. "If that weren’t bad enough, then there's lung, kidney and liver degeneration and the possibility of cancer and late onset diabetes - all of which, thank God, I’ve escaped so far, but some of my same age friends haven't."
“And, as well as the physical degenerations, we must also face psychological degeneration,” says Leissa. “Depression, I believe, goes along with every physical loss.”
"We're all different, we age in different ways, and die of different causes, but we all suffer some sort of degenerative disease (mostly heart disease) and no matter what you do, ageing is inevitable, you can't turn back time and you can't live forever," sighs Leissa. "None of us is immune from the ravages of time exacerbated now more than ever by modern lifestyle stresses and environmental factors - and in the end we all succumb."
"Turning 60 was a giant milestone,” confides Leissa. “I am now very aware that my days are numbered and that from herein out it is going to be a very bumpy ride."
"Take my word for it: old age sucks, it started sucking at 50 and gets suckier with each passing year!"
Read Leissa's other story the menopausal years
Labels: degenerative diseases, high blood pressure, incontinence, loss of libido, menopause, old age
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