NY.- President Biden announced his plans to run for re-election in 2024. If he wins, he will be 82 when he begins his term and 86 when it ends — which could make him, for the second time, the oldest person to assume the presidency from United States.
Donald Trump is not far behind, as he will turn 78 during the 2024 election and could enter octogenarian territory during another presidential term.
President Biden is “a healthy and vigorous man at 80,” according to a February report by White House physician Dr. Kevin C. O’Connor.
Although he was recently treated for basal cell cancer, a common slow-growing skin cancer, Biden has no major medical problems, does not smoke or drink and exercises at least five days a week.
“The spectrum of health in later life varies widely,” said Dr. Holly Holmes, professor and chair of Gerontology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
“As we get older, we are increasingly different from our peers and it is more difficult to generalize what a ‘typical’ 80-year-old would be like.
Dr. R. Sean Morrison, professor and chair of Geriatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, added that the changes that occur during aging happen to different people at different times.
Some 85-year-olds are healthier than some 65-year-olds, and most of the variation comes down to the person’s genes and lifestyle before age 60.
When people reach their 80s, and even in their mid to late 70s, some standard age-related changes tend to occur, loss of muscle mass and decline in bone strength make people more prone to illnesses and injuries.
Most healthy people in their 80s have no trouble performing complex cognitive tasks such as problem solving and planning, Dr. Morrison said, but they have a harder time multitasking and learning new things. Some have trouble remembering things, the reaction can also be slow, if only slightly.
It is important to remember that we all age differently, and that age does not define a person’s health. Many 80-year-olds are healthier than people 20 years younger.
