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19 jun 06 "At what age should one start worrying about smelling like an old person?" thirty. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you. -- Friedrich Nietzsche i don't believe it helps one's self to often think and worry about death or death-related concerns (ongoing quality-of-life issues affected by health is something different). is it rationally possible to be afraid of something that is going to happen? i don't look forward to death, but i think the process of dying will be interesting. when does consciousness fade? is one conscious of consciousness fading? when do you really start smelling like that? at the age one starts to take lots of prescription medication, stops exercising, stops bathing, and especially relocates to a fragrant nursing home or hospital. the "smell of the old person" comprises, largely, stale flesh that has been sitting around, unbathed in sweat but also un-wetted, the sort of sour, "flintstone vitamins", medical, chemical smell that some medications can produce, and the disinfectant smell of hospitals. combine the above with overdoing it on the masking properties of fragrant body care (scented deoderant, laundry detergent, moisturizer, hand soap, etc), and voila - eu du old person. a lot of it really does have to do with the fragrant body care products, and possible outdated perfumes -- they're usually subtle, but they scream out at you when they combine and there aren't many other smells. i'm sure nursing home food doesn't help, either. this is not, by any means, to say that all the elderly smell like this, but rather it's describing a bouquet that can be avoided, to the degree that one is still in control of one's own life (ie, not in ICU), and is sometimes not actively avoided by the elderly, who often, due to behavior, fall into high-risk categories for what a jury of the reasonable would refer to as "old person smell". diabetics can apparently smell like nail polish remover, and those with liver diseases can apparently smell like ammonia (source: THE INTERNET). so, add to the possible causes of O.P.S. physical conditions with some body-chemical component. so, you can avoid "smelling like an old person" with certain behaviors. namely: exercise, bathe, eat lots of fruit and vegetables, try to avoid drug regimens, stick with unscented body care products, and stay out of the hospital. easier said than done, i suppose. basically, you have to hope for the continuing good health that allows nonsmelly behavior. if you're laid up, it's given that you're not going to be de-toxifying by biking 40 miles and then taking a 40 minute steaming-hot shower afterwards, cooling the water down slowly to 70 degrees to close up your pores; it's going to be yoga stretches in your slacks and sponge baths for you. i might be full of beans on this. the cliche: in one's 20s and 30s, one says "i'm going to kill myself before i hit 60". in one's 30s and 40s, one is going to kill one's self before 70. and so on, right up until that last beep of the respirator. it's almost inevitable, although the elderly do have a higher suicide rate than any other age group. you people keep asking morbid questions. |
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