“Senile” is a term that, medically speaking, simply means “old.” Over the years, it has unfortunately become something of an epithet. “You must be getting senile!” For years, the picture of aging meant that we became slow (physically and mentally), frail and daft—sitting on our front porch watching the grass grow and maybe yelling at the neighbor’s kid.
Why?
This was our picture of age because that’s what aging does—if we let it. Guess what: We don’t have to. Our current understanding of aging has advanced considerably, and we now have tools to better manage it.
