The results of a pair studies published a few days ago are quite disturbing. One concerns the use of illegal drugs worldwide, and the other, mental decline as one ages.
According to researchers in Paris, France, the notion that mental decline doesn't start before age 60 is not correct. In reality, cognitive ability--memory, reasoning, and comprehension--begins to go south at age 45. That means my mental abilities have been slipping for 27 years. Since I didn't start with much, it's a miracle I can think at all. But forget me, what does this mean for America? In a country of 313 million, 100 million citizens are over 50, and 35 million are older than 65. And look at our politicians, a vast majority of them are over 50, and many into their 60s and 70s. People with deteriorating minds are running a country getting too old to grasp the problem. (Young people have good, fresh brains, but they don't know anything.) What a mess.
On the illicit drug front, according to a review of use studies by two Australian researchers, between 149 million and 271 million people worldwide took an illegal drug at least once in 2009. Other studies have shown that the heaviest drug users in the world are Americans. In 2009, 22 million Americans (This figure is low because it is based on self-reporting.) used illegal drugs. The narcotic of choice, Marijuana was followed by meth, cocaine, ecstasy, and heroin. In addition, 9 million Americans abuse legal drugs, and millions more take prescription pills to make them feel better. The latter is particularly true among older Americans who are losing their minds.
On top of the dementia and the drug taking, the U.S. is home to 12 million alcoholics, and an additional untold number of people who drink too much but don't go to the meetings. According to a recent study, 38 million Americans, at least once a week, binge drink.
So, what do we have here? We've got at least half of the adults in this country either losing their minds, taking drugs, and/or drinking too much. (Americans also eat too much, but that's another story.) If this is the greatest country on earth, what does that say about the rest of the world?
According to researchers in Paris, France, the notion that mental decline doesn't start before age 60 is not correct. In reality, cognitive ability--memory, reasoning, and comprehension--begins to go south at age 45. That means my mental abilities have been slipping for 27 years. Since I didn't start with much, it's a miracle I can think at all. But forget me, what does this mean for America? In a country of 313 million, 100 million citizens are over 50, and 35 million are older than 65. And look at our politicians, a vast majority of them are over 50, and many into their 60s and 70s. People with deteriorating minds are running a country getting too old to grasp the problem. (Young people have good, fresh brains, but they don't know anything.) What a mess.
On the illicit drug front, according to a review of use studies by two Australian researchers, between 149 million and 271 million people worldwide took an illegal drug at least once in 2009. Other studies have shown that the heaviest drug users in the world are Americans. In 2009, 22 million Americans (This figure is low because it is based on self-reporting.) used illegal drugs. The narcotic of choice, Marijuana was followed by meth, cocaine, ecstasy, and heroin. In addition, 9 million Americans abuse legal drugs, and millions more take prescription pills to make them feel better. The latter is particularly true among older Americans who are losing their minds.
On top of the dementia and the drug taking, the U.S. is home to 12 million alcoholics, and an additional untold number of people who drink too much but don't go to the meetings. According to a recent study, 38 million Americans, at least once a week, binge drink.
So, what do we have here? We've got at least half of the adults in this country either losing their minds, taking drugs, and/or drinking too much. (Americans also eat too much, but that's another story.) If this is the greatest country on earth, what does that say about the rest of the world?
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