What Do You Expect?

Are aches and pains and depression a normal consequence of aging? A team of California researchers recently found that seniors who assumed that these conditions were normal sought help for these and other treatable conditions less frequently than those who did not.

Lower expectations regarding old age and lack of knowledge about what modern medicine can offer can cause seniors to ?miss out on health care that could improve their overall quality of life.? The study, the results of which were published in the November 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, surveyed 429 community-dwelling seniors aged 65 to 100. More than half of the respondents believed that it was normal to become depressed and to have more aches and pains as they grew older.