Thanks, Carolyne, for your enlightening thoughts. This "undermining" of the sense of personal control over one's health is what I see here in Germany often in the villages. When someone turns 50, their relatives might set up a decorative pole in the front yard of their house, proudly announcing that Dad or whoever is crossing that magic threshold. And all too often, the mindset of the person follows suit, accepting that from now on all must be downhill, which then often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.