Fair cop @johnquiggin

There’s been a bit of discussion about ageing on here in response to a couple of other articles in the Guardian.

One thing John makes clear is that the experiences of some of my peers with elderly relatives have been or are with members of the Silent Generation. Most of them were/are smokers (my in-laws never smoked, which might relate to the fact that they’re not yet in care) and missed out on some other health care factors that probably affect long term health. (Vaccines for “childhood” diseases, fluoride etc.)

Obviously we learn about ageing by looking at old people, but each generation ages differently depending on healthcare advances etc.

I am worried about our ability to extend people’s lives long beyond a time at which they’ve stopped enjoying it. Of course this might change too, although the impacts of Covid on people as they age are yet to play out properly, & our refusal to acknowledge the ongoing threat of Covid will make this hard to document properly.

It would be interesting to compare ageing in countries like Australia & NZ where most people were vaccinated before catching Covid (and there are probably still some Novids around) with ageing in the US & Europe where so many people were exposed before vaccines were available. And apparently there are some countries where vaccines are no longer available.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/apr/04/older-australians-are-healthier-than-ever-but-this-hasnt-changed-the-way-we-talk-or-think-about-over-70s?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other