iBOONDOCK

Scott Wainer has a post on aging which raises the question of why anti-aging research has not gotten much attention. He advances several possible answers (the urgency of other health or social problems, religion, the certainty of death or the-we-are-all-going-to-die-anyway mentality, etc.) and suggests that more research should be done on aging.

He also asks bloggers to add their two cents on the issue and get US$20 in return plus a back link from his highly-ranked blog. Pretty good return on investment, eh? So you should take up his challenge as well before someone else grabs the 100th spot.

Anyways, of those suggested by Scott, I would think that probably the most important reason as to why anti-aging research has not gained much attention is the fact that there simply are more urgent problems out there. If you are a government official with a limited budget for instance, would you spend your money funding research on aging or would you spend it on AIDS research? The latter appears to be the more urgent problem so it won’t be surprising if the official pours the fund on it instead of the former.

Now, I wonder if another reason why there’s not that many anti-aging research is the fact that getting old also has its own rewards. Yes, it can be quite challenging to be a “senior citizen” but it can be rewarding as well. There is honor in being an old man/woman. During rituals and ceremonies for instance, those of us from the boondocks reserve a special place for the elderly. This is true not only within the family but in the wider community as well. So if getting old has its rewards, it’s hardly surprising that it is not viewed as something entirely undesirable.

Anyways, that’s just my two cents. Still, it would be good if more research is focused on aging. After all, who of us wouldn’t want to be as spry as a horse even if we’re in our sixties, no?