Final Thoughts

1. What is your personal definition of successful aging? How has this definition changed from the beginning of the semester.

After participating in this seminar, I now define successful aging as the ability to age in such a manner so that physical, mental, and emotional abilities are not severely impaired. To me, one has "aged successfully" if they are still able to do moderate physical activities, engage in mental activities and challenges, and maintain social relationships with family and friends upon reaching what society views as "old" age. When asked this question at the beginning of the semester, I most likely would have answered that successful aging involves being able to do physical activities as well as having a more "youthful" appearance. I would not have considered however, the emotional or mental aspects of aging.

2. What was one topic or fact that you found to be the most interesting throughout the semester?

I really enjoyed learning about the Georgia Centenarian study and especially enjoyed having Dr. Peter Martin talk to us about his role in the study and the research he has conducted about centenarians. It was very interesting to hear what he had to say about life expectancy, maximum life spans, and what the researchers had found when comparing different groups of centenarians.

3. What is one aspect of successful aging that you would like to continue learning about?

I would like to continue learning about the role that nutrition and exercise have in successful aging. These are two areas of my life that can be changed now in order to hopefully age better in the future. When we took the life expectancy calculator test this semester, I noticed that nutrition and in particular caffeine, plays a large part in your life expectancy. I was a bit surprised by this and would like to learn more about it.

4. Has any of the information that we've discussed in class changed your perspective about successful aging?

Learning that mental and emotional stimulation are key components of successful aging caused me to think more about my own life and what actions I could take in regards to those two areas. I thought it was interesting when Dr. Martin mentioned daily mental stimulation of some kind is very beneficial in the aging process. I also learned this semester that knowing how to handle and let go of stress helps one age more successfully. It is a bit hypocritical to say around finals time, but I hope to learn to handle stress better in the future in order to have a more positive aging experience.

Aging in the News

After searching "aging in the news" in Google, I came across an MSNBC article about the simple, everyday lifestyle changes that people could make in order to better prevent cancer. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41426537/ns/health-aging/) The article claims that a combination of a healthier diet, more daily exercise, and less consumption of alcohol could prevent a wide variety of common cancers. The article even lists statistics such as decreasing the cases of breast cancer by as much as 40% by making these changes. I found these facts to be extremely interesting. I realize we haven't talked a ton about cancer specifically in class but it is a common disease as people age. I was always under the impression that while cancer is influenced by daily habits and lifestyles, a person is more likely to be diagnosed with cancer as a result of genetics influences. I must say it is relieving to know I can take steps now to potentially decrease my risk of developing a life-threatening disease later in life,