How We Age : A Doctor's Journey Into the Heart of Growing Old

Heaven can't wait -- Age, I must -- Long time dead? -- Isaac, Erik, Isaac -- Annabe, Bartleby, and the doctor who flunks aging -- Joseph red hair -- Old pickled brain -- Lousy -- The strange but true case of Dawson Da Vinci -- If I forget thee -- Savant, of sorts -- Strength in numbers -- Old soldiers -- Memories, false and fixed -- The elders -- Bereft -- Just words -- Liar, liar -- Rules of four -- Mended -- Lessons from fire -- The seamstress -- Trees.;A young doctor's reflections on his experiences as a nursing-home psychiatrist--with remarkable stories of vitality and growth that transformed his view of aging. In the tradition of Atul Gawande and Sherwin Nuland, Marc Agronin writes luminously and unforgettably of life as he sees it as a doctor. His beat is a nursing home in Miami that some would dismiss as God's waiting room. Nothing in the young doctor's medical training had quite prepared him for what he was to discover there. As Agronin first learned from ninety-eight-year-old Esther and, later, from countless others, the true scales of aging aren't one-sided -- you can't list the problems without also tallying the hopes and promises. Drawing on moving personal experiences and in-depth interviews with pioneers in the field, Agronin conjures a spellbinding look at what aging means today -- how our bodies and brains age, and the very way we understand aging. Contents 10 A Note to the Reader 12 Introduction 14 Part I What Is Old? 28 Heaven Can’t Wait 30 Age I Must 41 Long Time Dead? 59 Part II Old Age Rounds 74 Isaac, Erik, and Isak 76 Annabe, Bartleby, and the Doctor Who Flunks Aging 101 Joseph Red Hair 112 Old Pickled Brain 125 Lousy 138 The Strange but True Case of Dawson da Vinci 144 Part III Memory 152 If I Forget Thee 154 Savant, of Sorts 172 Strength in Numbers 178 Old Soldiers 181 Memories, False and Fixed 186 Part IV Wisdom 196 The Elders 198 Bereft 220 Just Words 224 Liar, Liar 228 Rules of Four 233 Part V A Million Sparks 242 Final Acts 244 Mended 252 Lessons from Fire 262 The Seamstress 269 Trees 280 Epilogue 286 Notes 298 Selected Bibliography 310 Credits and Permissions 314 Acknowledgments 292 What is old? Heaven can't wait Age, I must Long time dead? Old age rounds Isaac, Erik, Isaac Annabe, Bartleby, and the doctor who flunks aging Joseph red hair Old pickled brain Lousy The strange but true case of Dawson Da Vinci Memory If i forget thee Savant, of sorts Strength in numbers Old soldiers in sight False and fixed Wisdom The elders Bereft Just words Liar, liar Rules of four A million sparks Mended Lessons from fire The seamstress Trees. Drawing On Moving Personal Experiences From His Time As A Doctor In A Miami Nursing Home And In-depth Interviews With Pioneers In The Field, The Author Looks At How Our Bodies And Brains Age, And The Way We Understand Aging Today.