Aging

A small study has shown it may be possible to reverse somewhat the wrinkling of old age. The research suggests that topical application of retinol, a form of vitamin A, could make older people less prone to skin ulcerations and poor healing of wounds. Three dozen white people -- average age, 87 -- had a skin moisturizer laced with retinol applied to one of their inner arms a couple of times a week for six months; a placebo was applied to the other arm.

Tyler James Williams is at work on the set of "Everybody Hates Chris." He's between takes, resting his head on a classroom desk, as the crew hustles to prepare the next shot. This would be like any other day for any other TV show -- the lights, the cameras, the action. Except that it's the summer hiatus season, and the soundstages of most broadcast series are dark. But those shows don't star a 14-year-old boy who is getting taller -- and whose voice is growing deeper -- by the day.

Some things actually get better with age, and emotional stability appears to be one of them. It says so right in the authoritative Journal of Neuroscience. Ever since Freud, psychologists have focused almost exclusively on misery -- our fears, our depressions, sadness, anger, hostility, aggression, you name it. Now, thank goodness, the young discipline of "positive psychology" is gaining ground as psychologists and neuroscientists try to figure out what makes people happy.

A funny thing happened on the road to perfection. Suddenly, enjoying your exercise routine is more important than going for the burn. Meditation is edging out the shrink's couch. And trying to turn back the clock is passe as a quiet revolution emphasizes that well-being is the key to quality of life and peace of mind.

Carol Roberts' 77-year-old mother is active and mentally sharp, but she suffers from a seizure disorder that requires close monitoring. "She didn't want to lose her independence, but she was apprehensive about living alone," Roberts says. One option was assisted living, but then Roberts heard of an alternative: new technology called the GrandCare System, which uses strategically placed home sensors to record motion in key spots such as the bathroom, entryway and bedroom.

Americans with osteoarthritis of the knee may need to wait a little longer for proof that three common approaches actually work. In a review of 42 randomized controlled trials on hyaluronic acid injections, 21 studies on the supplements glucosamine and chondroitin and 23 articles on arthroscopy, researchers at the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn.

The world is getting older. Today, people over 60 make up about 11% of the world's population and are projected to make up more than 20% by 2050. But although that segment of the population is growing fast, accumulating even faster are the number of people living past 100. Why some people's lives can span four generations or more is still a bit of a mystery -- but as the world ages, scientists are beginning to unearth some clues.

Bill Walker's mother lived to 101, his Uncle Rufus to 102. "I rather expected to live a long life," says the 89-year-old Long Beach resident. "I think it gave me a different view of aging, compared to some friends who had family members die in their 50s and 60s. They're looking for the grim reaper every day." Harriet Bennish, 56, has lived with no such easy assumption.

For centuries, sages have alluded to a richness in life's later years that is lost on the young. But only in the last decade have researchers begun to measure happiness across the life span and, in doing so, try to understand why older people tend to be so content. The explanation doesn't appear to be biological -- some chemical in the brain that mellows us just when all those plump neurons needed for thinking and memory are shriveling up.

As a culture that celebrates youth and beauty, we learn early on that adults are over the hill at 40. Birthdays aren't counted after 50. And by 60 the teasing has stopped and people are genuinely sympathetic. But the joke may be on the young. New research is finding -- with surprising consistency -- that people become happier as they age. Physical and cognitive decline notwithstanding, the later years are for many people the best years of life.