During the holidays, I went to an event hosted by The Three Tomtoes (thethreetomatoes.com), a great site that is aimed at women “who aren’t kids”. As I looked around, I could see the room was filled with attractive women. Not so long ago women over 50 were described as “aging” Today 50 plus women are dynamic, vital and sexy. But this was not just a room of Botox Babes. There was something more, much more.
When I mentioned to my physician husband how healthy and attractive the women looked at the party, Neil was not surprised. “Women today look better because they are healthier. They eat healthier, smoke less, exercise more and if health probems arise, we have new tools.”
Health care advances have changed the landscape of middle age. For example, common medications for heart problems preserve the circulatory system. When the body gets enough oxygen and nutrition, it can repair itself. For the skin, this means more collagen, better skin tone and fewer wrinkles. Before the days of drugs like beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors, heart and blood pressure problems caused a characteristic ashen pallor, slack skin and a diminished lifestyle. Today these once devestating heart problems are far less frequent due to changes in lifestyle and health care.
I also thought back to my childhood when the mother of my best friend Peggy developed lupus. I was only eight yet I could see how she changed from a lively women to a pale, gaunt shadow of herself. By comparison a co-worker with lupus has remained an chic and energetic women with a full calendar of work, friends and travel. The difference? Advances in treatment have changed lupus from relentlessly progressive disease into a chronic but usually mangeable condition.
Its wonderful to know that the changes that I see in my tribe are more than cosmetic.
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