August 2004

Learning from the 'Greatest Generation'

by Dr. Eric Plasker

How long can the human body last? A group of researchers in Discover magazine asked this question in the November 2003 issue and the answer they came up with was at least 150 years. This number sounds outrageous, but when you consider the current facts on aging, you may realize that there is some truth to their findings.

Consider the following figures. According to the US Census Bureau, in 1980 there were approximately 17,000 people at least 100 years old. Last year, the over 100 statistic had risen to approximately 70,000 people. By the middle of this century, it's estimated there'll be 4.2 million people over the age of 100.

Centenarians are the world's fastest‑growing group, according to Fast Company magazine, increasing eight percent a year. The numbers are staggering when you consider that when these people were born, in 1904 or earlier, the life expectancy was just 50 years!

In his book, "The Greatest Generation," Tom Brokaw wrote about this heroic group and their families who built America and fought two world wars, experienced the global expansion of democracy, the development of air and automobile travel, the invention of the television and the computer and countless other significant events in our history. The "Greatest Generation" taught us so much over the last century about life in this world, and now we can add one more valuable lesson to this list.

Life is not a 50‑year sprint, but a 100‑year plus marathon!

Many people live their lives as a sprint, wearing out their bodies and minds along the way. They wait until they have acute herniated discs and all types of other diseases before they commit to healthy habits that will enable them to live an active healthy life for 100 years and beyond.

Do you think the health choices you and your family make today will affect the quality of life for all of you in the future? How about your patients? Will you be their family DC?

Chiropractors all over the world are using this information to transform their pain‑ based, insurance‑based, sports and rehabilitation practices into lifetime care family wellness practices. The information makes so much sense and people want to hear it.

Who are the centenarians of the future? You and I. Who's caring for aging parents, grandparents, and great‑grandparents and sharing the burden for this segment of the population? We are. We're getting the advance notice our parents and grandparents never received. So, what will we do with this information?

Ask yourself, if you knew you were going to live to 100 or longer, wouldn't you want a healthy spine and nerve system when you got there? Of course you would.

Family Practice DCs are committed to living and practicing in a congruent manner ‑‑ teaching the importance of lifetime chiropractic care for everybody in their communities, and building huge practices.

Imagine seeing three, four, even five generations of families for lifetime care!

Who will provide answers to people coping with the challenge of an aging population? Who will be their family chiropractor, their family wellness provider? Will it be you?

Bring the message of lifetime chiropractic into your practice and you'll truly become a family wellness leader in your community ... for generations.

(Eric Plasker, DC, is the founder of The Family Practice where chiropractors are uniting to lead family health care. A nationally recognized speaker and educator, he's best known for rallying chiropractors around the "Lifetime Care For Everyone" [LCfE] and Family Practice visions in the chiropractic profession. For seminar, coaching, training, or product information, call toll‑free 866‑532‑3327, ext. 105. Or visit the Family Practice website at www.thefamilypractice.net.)

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