Over 60 ERE Biomarker and Related Metrics 5 Year Competition

[7Wannabe5]

real-world tests seem more important to me

An emergency situation obstacle course might be fun. Recently, I had to pick up a chunky, weeping 3 year old who injured her leg and walk two times around the school circumference attempting to locate the nurse, and I must admit that was a bit of an ask.

[Henry]

No one said anything about a lift and carry of fat, wet kids. And it's not even the fat and wet part. I don't care if it's one of those dry and skinny kids who don't have enough strength to swat a fly off their own forehead. I would consider an inanimate equivalent though.

[7Wannabe5]

New simple recommended metric is average heart rate/ steps per day.

Death rates from heart disease and cancer have fallen significantly over the last 20 years. Consequently, death rates from Alzheimer’s and accidents are on the rise. IOW, as humans live longer due to not dying from heart disease or cancer, they are more likely to eventually fall and break a hip or fall into dementia. The dementia rate is higher for females than males simply because females live longer. The reduction of deaths from heart disease and cancer is in part due to continuing reduction of tobacco use, but also Med 2.0 treatments.

[jacob]

@jp - I like those. They focus on "quality of life" unlike the biomarkers which I still see as "quantity of life"-focused. The disagreement between those two may determine where people stand on this issue.

[Henry]

New simple recommended metric is average heart rate/ steps per day.

I can work with that. As a non-hypochondriac, I initially felt I was at an extreme disadvantage. Reading Illinois Dave on sleep rate is actually the perfect cure for insomnia. It might be more complex than JLF providing advice on who you should fuck on an escalator.

[7Wannabe5]

They focus on "quality of life" unlike the biomarkers which I still see as "quantity of life"-focused.

Only on this forum would "quality of life" be expressed in terms of moves one might feel compelled to make as the most fit human on the scene in a post-apocalyptic collapse scenario. Since my lower body strength/mass is bound to be significantly greater than my upper body strength/mass, if I consider a purely imaginary future scenario in which a dystopic government gains access to the library records of all of its citizens and then deports all of those who have read 1000 books or more to a Calcutta Black Hole type environment, I would hope that after I flex my massive biggest old cheerleader thigh muscles to hoist Henry and IlliniDave out of the depths into the light of day or damp jungle undergrowth, they would also lend me assistance and, perhaps, if they cooperate, be able to lift me up and out.

Reading Illinois Dave on sleep rate is actually the perfect cure for insomnia. It might be more complex than JLF providing advice on who you should fuck on an escalator.

I started tracking my sleep data over the last few days, and so far my REM is high normal for my cohort, but my deep vs. light sleep is a bit low and this seems to be fairly well correlated with my skin temperature, which may or may not be in alignment with my sense that my aging mother needs the apartment kept too warm for my comfort. I already only use a sheet to cover myself, so may have to see if I can make other adjustments. My heart rate variability was very low, but is rising, and this would likely track with the fact that I am recovering from severe respiratory infection/asthma.

I also started doing some research into increasing lifespan sexual health. Interesting discovery was that although there is no pharmaceutical testosterone replacement therapy for women currently available in the U.S., physicians will sometimes prescribe male-formulated testosterone replacement at 10% dosage for women. And, there is also a libido increasing drug Addyi formulated for women which is aimed at lowering serotonin and raising dopamine response. The fact that serotonin is known to lower libido may go a good way towards explaining the current historically very low levels of sexual activity in the U.S. Women with bi-polar disease or cyclothymia often also exhibit hyper-sexuality due to the fact that mild mania pretty may create the same effect in dopamine vs. serotonin as this drug Addyi. So, I was chuckling to myself imagining some frugal guy encouraging his low-libido partner to take this drug, only to have it result in shopping mania rather than increased sexual libido.

According to one expert, the four components of female sexual dysfunction are lack of desire, lack or arousal, inability to achieve orgasm, and pain during intercourse, and these all will likely be negatively influenced post-menopause due to declining level of hormones, but pain due to vaginal skin thinning due to lack of estrogen is most frequent problem, and this is readily addressed with vaginal estrogen suppositories. I know two women who have experimented with bioidentical testosterone cream applied to genital realm and apparently this "works" almost too well in terms of immediately increasing libido. Since I experienced menopause, Covid lock-down, and my first incidence of acute Crohn's disease in the same year, it's been difficult for me to sort out the decline in my libido. This is also complicated by the fact that my poly-partners are also aging (62,67,72)and all of them have been known to me for enough years (8,9,13) that we are in "old relationship energy" rather than "new relationship energy" mode. Still, my own sexual functioning in the moment is such that it is difficult for me to imagine engaging in the sort of almost instantaneously slamming sex I used to be able to have even with an extremely attractive new partner in the throes of a fresh sexual infatuation. I mean, in a way it's kind of a relief to no longer have a high sex drive, but I also want to feel more like me again. I want that strong sparkly mix of testosterone and dopamine that makes you feel like you have both agency and luck on your side.

This same expert strongly suggested that in men low testosterone level is top signal of overall poor health, and is the biomarker best focused on. For women, even though testosterone is also the hormone created in largest quantity (although significantly less than in males), the situation, as usual, is more complex.

[jacob]

Only on this forum would "quality of life" be expressed in terms of moves one might feel compelled to make as the most fit human on the scene in a post-apocalyptic collapse scenario.

"Most fit on the scene" is clearly relative. In a world of couch potatoes, who don't/can't rise on the first try and need to bump their way off of the couch to a standing position and whose physical activities are fundamentally limited to sitting, standing, lying down, or waddling/plodding slowly from chair to chair, I don't think the list presented above is entire unreasonable for someone who wants enjoy a level of physical activity that doesn't require asking "a man" or "someone young" for help for anything that requires lifting their own ass out of the couch (yes, they do ask that) or more than 25lbs or moving faster than 3mph for longer distances than 1/8 of a mile. I don't agree to normalize physical decrepitude just because much of the population have let themselves slide to the point where even taking a shower is a physical feat.

I have one and a half sets of parents (aged 70-75) and the difference in what they can do in their life---their optionality so to speak---is like night and day. This is a pattern of divergence that started many years ago and now the difference in capability is pretty stark. The difference in attitude between seniors who are active and those who are content with sitting/watching/asking from the sidelines seems to come down to a "use it or lose it"-philosophy vis-a-vis using their age or gender as an excuse not to "use their body".

A list of physical verbs for the active: sit, sleep, eat, watch, stand (>5 mins), walk (>1/8 mile), run, lift (>25lbs), work
A list of physical verbs for the passive: sit, sleep, eat, watch (put that on a hat!)

All these verbs transfer over. For example, the ability to maintain a home, clean up, take out the trash, play with grandchildren, go fishing, cook a real dinner, access the parts of the world that aren't right next to a parking lot, ...

Being unfit is objectively limiting but of course if one's plans as a senior only involves sitting, sleeping, eating, and watching, ... then nothing is lost. The more common situation is that people had plans for their golden years---it's just their body is not up doing very much anymore beyond TV and restaurants (and rotisserie chicken )---and now they're trying to argue how it was inevitable all along.

[Henry]

I think starting with the basics of whether you are still breathing and can still walk is good choice especially for those of us at this stage of the game. Make it optional that participants can add other measurements they utilize to provide the opportunity for side bets and ideas for the other contestants. The trophy goes to who lives the longest, which means that all you pre-deceasing-Henry fucking losers will receive your runner up trophies posthumously, which I will ceremoniously piss into and place beside your headstones which of course is predicated upon me being able to recollect that I beat all your pushing up daisies asses upon your elimination from the contest. However, if I die at 67, all terms and conditions are rendered void because in that instance my death was a result of dark and pre-ordained spiritual forces made known before the commencement of the competition and which no amount of walking, sleeping, or twerking could prevent.

[chenda]

However, if I die at 67, all terms and conditions are rendered void because in that instance my death was a result of dark and pre-ordained spiritual forces made known before the commencement of the competition and which no amount of walking, sleeping, or twerking could prevent.

If final destination taught us anything its that you can't cheat death. Any attempt to do so will result in a more creatively unpleasant one. Destiny is all.

[jennypenny]

I wasn't really thinking about the apocalypse with my list. You can use any lens you want.

Using a financial lens might produce a list like ...
Can I cut my own grass?
Can I haul furniture into my house so I don't have to pay for delivery?
Can I haul luggage onto public transportation to the airport so I don't have to pay for a car service?
Can I get up on the roof to clean gutters and make repairs?
Can I move myself and all of my belongings?
etc

A social lens might produce a list like ...
Can I accept invitations to socially active events like bowling or pickle ball or sailing or zip lining?
Can I attend events at large venues? climb any stairs? get to the crappy seats?
Can I fit in the smaller seats at venues like older theaters?
Can I take public transportation and/or walk to visit friends?
Can I meaningfully help someone in need like cleaning their house or assisting with physical tasks?
Can I kneel at church or prostrate to pray? Fast on holy days? Walk through the stations of the cross?
etc

My point is that no one is judging how many sit-ups I can do or cares that I can't do planks or push-ups anymore with a bum arm. They will, however, judge any perceived physical limitations that might affect them and might hesitate to include me in some activities as a result. I don't want to develop physical limitations that become a defining part of who I am to myself or others because I don't want to shrink my world in any way.

[Henry]

So the way I see it, 7W5 is attempting the ERE equivalent of organizing a bunch of drunkards into a piss off but before anyone could lift a red cup, the fermentation experts took over. The question I think is does health and exercise routines that do not correspond directly to actual tasks help perpetuate one's ability to perform the actual tasks. I think the question is an obvious yes, so let's start drinking before we get too pissed off to actually have the piss off and we all just end up waiting for the dirty dark angels to have their ultimate way with each of us and collectively miss the opportunity to watch some good old fashioned twerking before everyone's lights get shut off for the final time.

[7Wannabe5]

A list of physical verbs for the active: sit, sleep, eat, watch, stand (>5 mins), walk (>1/8 mile), run, lift (>25lbs), work
A list of physical verbs for the passive: sit, sleep, eat, watch (put that on a hat!)

I strongly agree, and would add "fuck (>>>pillow princess/prince)" to the first list. I just wasted $19.99 on the purchase of some resistance training tubes theoretically rated medium, heavy, and ultra-heavy, and the lower body exercises are already too easy for me. I'm going to return them and buy some plates for the 5 ft bar I purchased off the clearance rack for $24.99 instead. My medium term goal is to deadlift 170.

The trophy goes to who lives the longest

Yes, but I think only if they are reasonably happy/fulfilled/cogent.

@jennypenny:

I agree that both your financial and social lens are relevant, but would note that my recent experience with being somewhat disabled due to Crohn's is that as long as my cognitive ability remains intact for at least a few hours/day, and I can still perform basic self-care tasks, financial "survival" is not an issue. OTOH, social "survival" is much more tenuous. Some items I might add to your social lens list would be...

Can I be away from restroom facilities for long enough to participate in social activity or will I feel comfortable wearing a diaper-like garment?
Can I manage my pain well enough to cheerfully interact with others?
Can I converse about something other than my medical/physiological problems?
Can I take an interest in current events or future possibilities?
Can I maintain enough interest in my appearance to make an effort towards remaining attractive to others?
Can I accept offers of assistance and accommodation from others graciously?
Can I accept my limitations and communicate about them clearly to others in order to facilitate more social interaction?

For example, my current most limiting factor for hiking is the likelihood that I may have to take a random shit due to Crohn's disease. This is true for even young extremely fit humans with Crohn's disease, so on support group I might read about somebody's "adventure" taking a shit behind a random shrub in the middle of an urban marathon run. I have not yet developed protocol for semi-in-public-shit-taking, so when I go on even a short hike with somebody else, I have to ask them if we can stay in short loop closer to facilities until I am reasonably confident that the activity is not going to activate my guts. My point here being that I think that there is at least as much risk, and probably much more risk, in choosing ourselves to avoid social situations due to some disability than in being excluded by others. However, that is not to imply that I think others who are more fit and/or less disabled in various ways should hold themselves back from manifesting their full potential. Heck, I even encouraged my partners to have sex with others while I was out-of-commission.

[jacob]

I strongly agree, and would add "fuck (>>>pillow princess/prince)" to the first list.

I just knew that would be the first thing you'd try to add in. I left it out because there's a complete range from 100% passive partner to 100% active partner and so it doesn't add any meaningful differentiation in terms of whether people can or cannot [fuck] in some sense of the word.

[Henry]

Yes, but I think only if they are reasonably happy/fulfilled/cogent.

Three posts ago you said only breathing and walking. Now you're bringing this shit in. I'm sorry, but I"m starting to think this whole thing is rigged.

[jennypenny]

Can I accept my limitations and communicate about them clearly to others in order to facilitate more social interaction?

'accommodations' not 'limitations'

I get the Crohns is not your fault like my non-functioning arm. Still, we all accumulate shit as we get older. Figure out the best accommodations and then move on. You can't let it define you. And please don't take this as me not being sympathetic. I am very sympathetic -- I know how hard it can be when you don't know which way the wind will be blowing on any given day. But as a parent of someone with CF, I've learned how important it is to make sure his disease doesn't define him or dictate his life. He occasionally loses the battle and has to give up a day or two to the CF, but he rules the day most of the time. Give it space but don't let the Crohns invade the other healthy/functioning parts of your life. 'This far, no further!' and all that.

[IlliniDave]

The discussion has turned towards why in my way of looking at ere head-to-head competition misses much of the point. We all have differing visions of the out years that flavor how we would want to approach health span and healthy aging. From the start of my efforts at physiological self care I have tried to craft it after extending a lifestyle I enjoy. Exercise accomplishments and biomarkers are a nice way to gauge progress and make adjustments, but they aren't the point for most of us, just means to ends.

[7Wannabe5]

I just knew that would be the first thing you'd try to add in. I left it out because there's a complete range from 100% passive partner to 100% active partner and so it doesn't add any meaningful differentiation in terms of whether people can or cannot [fuck] in some sense of the word.

Yes, and I just knew that you would raise this objection, thus my disallowance of anything within 3 levels of pillow princess/prince. However, that said I would note that the muscularity that might come into the play in the sexual arena is not the only aspect relevant to health/fitness while aging. For example, the more passive partner will frequently have to display more flexibility. Also, its really the coordination of muscle, joints, hormones, glands, circulatory system, nervous system in skillful synchronization that is most evident of relative fitness. For example, at the peak of my sexual functioning I could orgasm on command and it would be pretty tough if not impossible for me to do that currently.

I"m starting to think this whole thing is rigged.

Seriously, my motivation for promoting "competition" is attempt to overcome my own usually too easy-going, unambitious nature. I know there is something motivating about anger towards warrior strength, but it does not often or long live very strong in me, in spite of the fact that my Type 8 mother frequently literally reminds me that all the women in my family are Polish Warriors. So, I was attempting to tap into slim thread that, for example, caused me to get into great shape when I was thoroughly pissed off at my ex or ace the exam curve when there was a stupid jerk competing against me. Tertiary Fe makes me uncomfortable with having any real enemies, but pretend enemies, like in wrestling world, might work just as well, and also be much more amusing.

Give it space but don't let the Crohns invade the other healthy/functioning parts of your life. 'This far, no further!' and all that.

Thank you for this. I just wrote "accommodations not limitations" on my Top Notes.

[Henry]

all the women in my family are Polish Warriors.

Now I understand why it's such a fight to understand you.

[chenda]

Its iteresting that 'fuck' is treated like a regular verb (you fuck, he fucks, one fucks etc) whereas sex is treated like a noun (one 'has' sex) even though its clearly an action not a object.

[Henry]

There was a very successful basketball player named Dikembe Mutumbo who recently died. He was 7'2 and came from the Congo. He went to Georgetown University in Washington DC. Upon retirement, he dedicated his life to humanitarian efforts. There was, however, a rumor that back in the day, he would walk into frat parties, night clubs, what have you, raise his arms and bellow out "Who wants to sex Mutumbo?" Alonzo Mourning, his Georgetown University teammate at the time, verified it was in fact true. I don't know if it was a translation issue or purposeful misuse of the word, but it is interesting to note that Mutumbo graduated with a degree in linguistics.