New research by Japanese scientists into the nature of aging reveals that what has been confused with "aging", "frailness" or "undiagnosed illness" is in reality the "result of disuse syndrome as an accumulated effect of inactive life".  In a study of people with poor functioning, forty percent were people who suffered physical decline simply because over time they did a little less, moved a little less.  Use it or lose it, indeed.  It happens so slowly that it goes unnoticed and unaddressed.  The researches concluded that "decline of function is not a normal part of aging, but rather associated with disuse syndrome."

International journal of Rehabilitation Research article on aging.

This is not news.  Walter Bortz published an interesting article on this subject in 1984. 

So, let our New Year resolution be to stay active, to use our bodies and minds to their full capacity and enjoy aging as a process that is not there to take away years of life, but something that can add life to our years.

Namaste,

Anna M.