When Dr. Jason Karlawish turned 50 last month, he celebrated with some of his staff over a vanilla cake and a custom birthday card at what was scheduled on his calendar as a lab meeting.
“Age is just a number,” one staff member offered between bites.
On the contrary, said Karlawish, without a hint of pessimism. An adult’s brain has reached “maximum cognitive abilities” at age 50, and he needed to plan for his future.
That developing plan was the topic of his latest Forbes column, published this week.
“I’m scheduled for my first screening colonoscopy and cholesterol tests, but the healthcare system has little in place for me to check up on my brain or interventions to keep it healthy. This may change. The U.S. national Alzheimer’s plan has an ambitious goal to prevent Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. Screening brain scans and pills that slow down cognitive decline will help, but we’re not going to test and drug our way out of experiencing any cognitive changes with aging. There are simply too many pathologies at work and too many ways to age a neuron. That is what growing older is.”
Karlawish noted in the column that new technologies in health care, transportation, and financial management can help prevent some of the “high-octane dramas” that come with aging as long as people are willing to surrender some of their autonomy.