Our Health: Boomeritis

Oh, good!  Now I know why I'm stiff after two hours of driving, sore after those step exercises, feeling that shoulder pain with my modified push-ups, and aching after too much downward- facing dog. 

It's really "Boomeritis," a term coined by Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, a Havertown, PA, orthopedic surgeon.  He is quoted as pointing out that " 'Baby boomers are the first generation in droves trying to stay active in an aging frame' "(L. S. Kadaba,"Boomers Pay Price for Active Lifestyles, "The Philadelphia Inquirer, as reprinted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sept. 27, 2009, 12A).

It seems that physicians, surgeons and emergency rooms are treating Boomers (and those of us  older than the 64-year-old cut off for this generation) for injuries that were seen 10 years ago in much younger patients.  We all know people in our age group who have taken bicycle spills, ending up with broken clavicles, fractured bones, and torn shoulder muscles.  Or friends who have tripped while on the treadmill or out running the woodland trails. (Let's not mention those silly aging softball players who really should take up another sport!)

According to data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, emergency rooms "treated 282,476 injuries among baby boomers...who suffered all sorts of sports-and exercise-related misfortune, a 47 percent inrease from an decade earlier"(12A).

According to sociologist BJ Gallagher who studies this age group, our aches and pains are not surprising. She indicates that we try to keep aging at bay by engaging in all sorts of physical exercise and sports. Kadaba quotes her as saying, " 'Not only do we defy authority, we're going to defy Mother Nature...We're really arrogant. We're going to play tennis. We're going to swim. We're going to run marathons' "(12A).  And, by the way, if we live in the western states, we're more likely to suffer 'Boomeritis' since "77 percent of older adults in the West say they exercise daily,compared with 69 percent in other regions"(M. Tucker, "Looking Westward," AARP Bulletin, October, 2009,10).

Personally, I know really fit older women who work out at home or have personal trainers and, yes, look much younger than their years. So, even with the data on our injuries and the expert opinion labeling us as 'arrogant', we could just be the first generation to be active, lucid, and smiling at age 100.  In which case, who cares about the labels! We're doing all we can to be healthy and productive.  We're working out  the aches and pains as we maintain active lifestyles. 

So as Yoda might say,  "Strong and healthy you are, Boomers; remain so."