The changing physiology of middle age

It is not easy to talk sensibly about middle age because there is real doubt as to whether it exists. It is something which rapidly recedes from us as we approach it and at the other end it blends confusingly into old age. During this century improvements in medical care and a general increase in living standards have led people to expect to retain good health until quite late in life. It is now unusual for a physician to attribute any illness merely to old age and he would be most unwise to do so in a patient under the age of 70.