The received wisdom has always been that with
increasing age, women become elderly, whereas men look ever more
distinguished. Women go grey, whereas men simply acquire attractive silver
touches in their hair. Women get fat, whereas men just become – well, nicely
substantial.
We have been led to believe that men age more
gracefully and elegantly than women. But if ever that was true once, it is
certainly not the case now. Just the opposite in fact. The elderly-looking
son with the youthful mother is by no means an isolated example of how
differently men and women age these days.
Attend any gathering for the over-60s and you
will see what I mean. The women will be trim, healthy and vibrant, chatting
and laughing away, exchanging lively gossip and ideas. Their men, by
contrast, will be paunchy, wrinkly and bald, staring vacantly into space or
shuffling around on their zimmer frames.
Many women in their sixties and beyond are as
fit as a fiddle and have never felt better. Men, though, will likely as
not be suffering from the first signs of degenerative diseases, from heart
disease to gout, from diabetes to prostate problems, from macular
degeneration to emphysema.
For many older men, hospital appointments are a
way of life. Their bedside tables are covered with pills and medicine
bottles, and it takes them fully half an hour to get their socks on in the
morning.
What has gone wrong? Why are today’s men not
ageing as well as the women in their lives?
One major reason has to be that older women take
better care of themselves than ageing men. Our grandmothers may have put on
their white caps to sit knitting in their rocking chairs, but the present
generation of sixty-something women is fit and active. We go to the gym, we
eat healthily, we watch our weight, and we take care of our skin and hair.
We make sure our teeth are white.
We keep ourselves looking up to date by
ruthlessly editing and refining our wardrobes every season, chucking out
anything remotely old ladyish.
The men, though, will happily wear the same
clothes for years on end. They may feel comfortable in their old togs, but
the effect is to look like the man that time forgot. Most men never go near
a beauty salon, and believe grooming products are for sissies. That’s why
their skin looks weathered, lined and wrinkled before its time.
Women are also much more prepared than men to
consider dyeing their hair, having cosmetic surgery and going for regular
massages and spa treatments.
But
we women don’t just take care of our bodies. We pay close attention to
keeping our minds young and active as well, by going on courses, running
clubs and learning new skills, unlike the average sixty-plus man, who
believes he learned everything he needed to know years ago, and has no need
of further knowledge or mental input. The result of this attitude is that
his mind has become as outdated as the 20-year old jacket he insists on
dusting down for every occasion.
Poor old sods, though. It may not be all their
fault. The truth is that men are actually designed by nature to wear out
quickly, whereas women are programmed to last a long time.
Consider the male hormone testosterone, the
substance released in huge quantities in boys and young men, but hardly
produced at all in the later years. Once testosterone production slows
down, the ageing process accelerates, causing rapid mental and physical
decline in males.
Dr Malcolm Carruthers, who has spent two decades
researching the ageing process in men, and devising ways to reverse it,
believes the answer is to give males of middle age and beyond regular shots
of the ‘youth hormone’ their bodies are no longer producing. This, believes
the author of The Testosterone Revolution, will put a spring back in
their step and a twinkle in their eye.
His theories are considered controversial and
unproven, but certainly something drastic is needed before older women in
droves ditch their men for livelier younger models, youthful men who can
actually keep pace with them.
The
Testosterone Revolution
is published by
Thorsons, £14.99
