Keith Kendrick: Can worrying about old age make you look older?

From a speech on ageing given by the Professor of Physic at Gresham College in the City of London

Thursday 01 April 2004 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The huge increase in cosmetic surgery in the developed world over the last 10 years or so is testament to the fact that the human race is particularly concerned with disguising the external physical signs of ageing. Of all the degenerative signs of ageing skin, connective tissue and muscle changes are inevitable, although they can of course be quite variable in degree and time course.

Pills and potions to reverse the external signs of ageing are big business and the subject of claims that are often outrageous and with very little basis in scientific fact. Most experts will normally make the key recommendation of avoiding prolonged exposure to the sun and making sure you have a healthy diet and drink large amounts of water.

It is a sad fact that obsessive concern with maintaining the appearance of youth can be linked with a fear or inability to adjust to different phases of life where some advantages are lost while others can be gained. Such inflexibility may, arguably, help to prevent compensatory changes from occurring beneath the surface, notably in the brain, which will minimise the impact of ageing on our personality, mental faculties and perhaps even on other vital internal organs.

While our increasing knowledge of the physiological mechanisms which govern ageing will undoubtedly provide us over the next few decades with surgery-free alternatives for retaining youthful looks, the problem of needing to be able to adjust positively to the changing phases of our lives will not diminish as a result.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in