The Truth About Aging With Clarity, Dignity, and Purpose

This week’s Studio Session brought us Dr. Rosanne Leipzig, a geriatrician who spent more than 40 years at Mount Sinai and is the author of Honest Aging: An Insider’s Guide to the Second Half of Life. She started with mindset, which may shape how you age more than you think.

“If you’re ageist, you’re prejudiced against your future self,” she said. Some changes really are just part of getting older: gray hair, reading glasses, walking more slowly, getting up at night to urinate. Others aren’t. Shortness of breath, unexplained weight loss, persistent low mood and the signs of stroke all deserve a call to your doctor. She stressed that depression in particular is treatable at any age: “I saw people get better. They were totally different people.”

One of the most reassuring moments came when she explained how to tell everyday forgetfulness from something more serious. Alzheimer’s is a problem with storing information, while normal aging makes it harder to retrieve. Think of the actor whose name escapes you until you wake up in the middle of the night remembering it was Clark Gable. “You stored that information. The problem you have is with retrieving it.” If a hint or a few choices bring the answer back, that’s not Alzheimer’s.

During her five years on the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, her focus was when to stop screening. Most cancers found on a screen take 8 to 10 years to cause illness, so for most people 85 and older, the burden of treatment outweighs the benefit. Her rule for any test: “If you wouldn’t do the next steps if it were abnormal, don’t do it. You’ll drive yourself crazy.” Behind all of it is the question geriatricians start with: “What do you want your healthcare to be in service of?”

Her parting thought was simple, and it’s the one we’re holding onto:

She also shared how to get back to sleep when you’re suddenly wide awake at 4 a.m., why you’re never too young to name a health care proxy, and what the evidence says about starting HRT to protect your brain.

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The information provided about wellness and health is for general informational and educational purposes only. We are not licensed medical professionals, and the content here should not be considered medical advice. Talk to a doctor before trying any of these suggestions.