AUSTRALIA: Old Age Can Be The Best Age

. SYDNEY, NSW / 6minutes.com / February 6, 2009 65 plus - the Rock 'n' Roll years By Annette Katelaris When I finished my session at the nursing home last Friday, I headed north to hear the great Leonard Cohen. Not only was it a brilliant musical experience but it was a refreshing insight into an alternative model of ageing. Leonard is 74 years young. While he was gracious and debonair, he was also youthful, energetic, funny and self-deprecating. He bowed humbly to his audience and musicians and skipped off the stage after each set. His mellow voice sang passionately: >"Well my friends are gone and my hair is grey I ache in the places where I used to play And I'm crazy for love but I'm not coming on" He told us that he was in Australia 15 years ago as a young 60-year-old and that since then he'd taken a long list of antidepressants and studied religions, yet despite all this, cheerfulness broke through. The audience ranged from young children to geriatrics and we all seemed to connect with him on some level. After three hours of music and a brilliant rendition of 'Closing Time' we were still on our feet begging for more. So what has this got to do with medicine? Sometimes I think as GPs we lose perspective of ageing. We are often immersed in the elderly who are very sick, very demanding and make a huge call on our time and energy. Even those who are in good health are often melancholy. Often the changes they are subject to are overwhelming and beyond their control. They may have lost their lifelong partner, they may be forced to move as their financial circumstances worsen, they maybe in conflict with the people they love most, their children. Cohen only did this tour because his accountant embezzled his millions and he was broke. This would have plunged many into despair. Sometimes I wish some of my elderly patients could just be happy and enjoy what they have left. So many still have so much to live for. Maybe we should pass on Samuel Johnson's advice: "Melancholy indeed, should be diverted by every means but drinking". Dr Annette Katelaris is a Sydney GP and Medical Editor of 6minutes. From the publishers of New Scientist & the Lancet, 6minutes is an online newsletter and website for Australian doctors, including general and specialist practitioners. Source: 6minutes.com