We also are more likely to need vitamins and supplements, in part, because our sense of taste and our appetites are beginning to decline and so some of us don't eat enough. People between the ages of 65 and 69 years old fill about 14 prescriptions per year, according to the American Association of Consultant Pharmacists. By our mid-60s, three-quarters of us have a chronic health condition and take some sort of prescription drug regularly.
1 prescription drug in the U.S.īut both Clinton and Trump, who takes Crestor to control his cholesterol, are in step with their age-group peers in this regard. Both skew our metabolism: hyperthyroidism, by speeding it up hypothyroidism by slowing it down.Ĭlinton has hypothyroidism, which she treats with pills made from dried pig glands, according to her doctor, while most women with hypothyroidism take Synthroid, a synthetic that's the No. Meanwhile, in our 60s, one-third of us have hearing loss, and the pupils in our eyes have shrunk to half the size they were in our 20s, according to the National Institutes of Health.Īnd more than a quarter of American women have developed a thyroid condition, like hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. By the mid-60s, tissues in the larynx begin to weaken, which can cause a woman's voice to sound lower and hoarse, and a man's to become higher and thin, according to the American Academy of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. If Clinton sometimes sounds hoarse, it may not just be from the demands of campaigning. (But Clinton and Trump may not benefit from this: His exercise is limited to golf, and hers is yoga and walking.) Intense exercise may help maintain brainpower, some studies have shown.
In our 60s, we may worry about memory loss but we're still not at heightened risk for Alzheimer's disease fewer than 5 percent of people with Alzheimer's are younger than 65.Īnd there's some evidence that neurogenesis - the creation of new brain cells - can continue into our 60s, AARP magazine has reported. Anthony Oro, professor of dermatology at Stanford University, said in Good Housekeeping magazine. (Clinton's is 70, according to her doctor Trump's has not been released.)Īnd it's time to invoke the 50-50-50 rule: By age 50, 50 percent of people will have 50 percent gray hair, Dr. Our ideal heart ratesalso should remain consistent throughout adulthood: 60 to 100 beats per minute, although runners and other endurance athletes typically have rates between 40 and 60. (It's based on build and height, not age.) Our metabolism, which began to slow in our 30s, and can decline as much as 1 percent a year, is making it more difficult to maintain our ideal weight, which - as unfair as this may seem - is the same ideal weight we tried to reach in our 20s. Our eyes become more sensitive to glare and we may begin having problems with night vision, and need reading glasses to see things that are close, according to the AARP.
Women experiencing menopause (the average onset is 51, according to the Mayo Clinic) may be particularly susceptible to problems with memory and cognition because of fluctuating hormone levels. In our 50s, declines in brain function may become noticeable as we become more forgetful as neurons shrink and have fewer connections.