Eggs were the enemy for most of the 20th century. One yolk supposedly meant clogged arteries. Then the science reversed itself quietly, and it turned out that dietary cholesterol barely affects blood cholesterol for most people. Aging built up a similar stack of confident rules that nobody ever audited. A 2021 an AARP survey found that 58% of adults over 40 believe cognitive decline is simply inevitable. It turns out that underlying research doesn’t support that belief. Here are some other myths about growing older that have been perpetuated but have no science to back them up.
NEUROPLASTICITY CLOCKS OUT AT AGE 60
Neuroplasticity is the ability of the brain to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. In other words, old dogs don’t learn new tricks. The reality is, old dogs learn new tricks constantly, at least the human kind. Exercise and continued learning keep the brain forming new neural connections well past the age of 60.
MEMORY SLIPS MEANS DEMENTIA
A forgotten name and an actual dementia diagnosis are not remotely the same event. A major study identified 14 separate risk factors for cognitive decline, which is strange if the whole process were as fixed as people assume.
WITH AGE COMES MUSCLE LOSS
Sarcopenia — the age-related, progressive loss of muscle mass, strength, and physical function — gets treated as a locked door past a certain birthday. However, resistance training research keeps kicking that door back open, recording real strength and mass gains in participants well into their 80s and 90s. That shouldn’t be possible if the process were actually finished decades earlier the way it’s usually described.
WEIGHT LOSS IS HARD AFTER A CERTAIN AGE BECAUSE YOUR METABOLISM SLOWS
Slower doesn’t mean sealed. Weight outcomes still ride mostly on activity level, muscle mass, and diet, three variables that stay adjustable at any age, regardless of what the metabolic rate is doing on its own.
OSTEOPOROSIS IS INEVITABLE WITH AGING
Two-thirds of women over 50 don’t have osteoporosis, despite the assumption that it’s inevitable once a woman crosses that age.
Overall, most of the myths surrounding age seem to center on inevitability. People believe that it's inevitable that they will gradually crumble into dust as their lives become increasingly unbearable, boring, passionless, and painful. Although certain aspects of health might decline with age, none of the above is inevitable for everyone. As we have discovered, a positive psychological outlook on aging can benefit the physical aspects of aging as well.
