The life expectancy of human is becoming increasingly longer. In the 20th Century， people over 40 were regarded as the elderly; however， nowadays， the “pensioners” who still work today cannot make anyone surprised， and some senior citizens are even more active in social activities than young people. What will the youths who are younger than thirty be after forty years? When does their aging begin? What difference does their old age has with the senior citizens nowadays? Vladimir Shabalin， Director of Scientific Clinic Center of Gerontology and Academician of Russian Academy of Sciences recently wrote to answer these questions specially.

人類的壽命在不斷延長，如果說在20世紀，超過40歲就已步入老年，不超過三分之一的人活過60歲，而今天仍在工作的“退休者”已經(jīng)不能引起任何的驚異，一些老年人的社會活動積極性甚至超過青年人?，F(xiàn)在還不到三十歲的年輕人再過四十年會變成怎樣？他們的衰老從什么時候開始？他們的老年和現(xiàn)在的老人們有什么區(qū)別？俄羅斯老年學(xué)科學(xué)臨床中心主任，俄羅斯科學(xué)院院士弗拉基米爾·沙巴林教授日前專門著文解答這些問題。

The beginning of aging

老化的開始

It is known to us that aging begins since we are germs. When egg cells get fertilized successfully， the process of aging begins. Some organization structures begin to age and die. Eliminating these organization structures and producing new ones is the growing process of human body. Ageing is the most important physiologic process of human， therefore gerontology can be regarded as the basis of all chemical disciplines， because the most basic task for medicine is to extend the life expectancy of human at the time of improving qualities of life.

Different people have different process of ageing， including the ageing of intelligence. There are pathological phenomena， for example Alzheimer Disease (AD): patients will lose their intellectual functions; there are also natural physiological ageing， of which the most common one is the decline of memory. It is a natural process， in which the brain and whole body system of the elderly begin to deteriorate， while some parts continue to grow. Between the age of 60 to 70，the coordination of different parts of the brain become increasingly weak， and things are often forgotten， however， the memory files are still preserved， so through some training of brain and through the diffusion from the memories of other things， we can always achieve the goal of exercising our memories. The important thing is to understand: only by training the brain regularly and maintaining its function can we last our intelligence for longer， keep good thinking ability and memory.

眾所周知，老化從胚胎就已經(jīng)開始。當卵細胞受精成功，老化的過程就立即開始了。一些組織結(jié)構(gòu)開始老化、死亡、清除，并產(chǎn)生新的組織結(jié)構(gòu)，人的身體就是這樣的發(fā)育過程。老化，是人類最重要的生理過程，所以老年學(xué)或者可以被認為是所有醫(yī)學(xué)學(xué)科的基礎(chǔ)，因為醫(yī)學(xué)最基本的任務(wù)就是在高質(zhì)量的生活前提下，讓人類壽命更為長久。

每個人的老化過程都不同，包括智力范疇的老化過程。存在著病理現(xiàn)象，比如阿爾茲海默氏癥：病人喪失其智力功能；也存在著自然的生理老化現(xiàn)象，最普遍的就是記憶力的退化。這是自然的過程，老年人的大腦和他們的整個身體系統(tǒng)開始退化，但同時在某些局部地區(qū)仍然繼續(xù)發(fā)育。在60-70的年齡段中，大腦各部位之間的相互協(xié)作不斷減弱，雖然大腦經(jīng)常忘事，但記憶檔案仍然保存著，所以通過一些腦力鍛煉方法，以及通過其他事物進行擴散回憶，我們總是能達到鍛煉記憶力的目的。重要的是懂得：只有進行經(jīng)常性的腦力鍛煉，保障它的功能，才能更長久的保持自身的智力，保持健康的思考能力與良好的記憶力。

The difference between the senior citizens nowadays and those of early 20th Century

當代社會老年人與20世紀初老年人的區(qū)別

Prolonged physiological life is the biggest difference between the senior citizens nowadays and those of early 20th century. In the one hundred years of the twentieth Century， the average life expectancy of human beings doubled rapidly， from 35 years old to 70 years old and such change has never happened in the human history. In the seventeenth Century， 40 years old was believed to be old age， and Shakespeare wrote in his sonnet:

When forty winters shall beseige thy brow，

And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field，

Thy youth's proud livery， so gazed on now，

Will be a tatter'd weed， of small worth held.

生理壽命的延長是現(xiàn)代與20世紀人類的最大不同。20世紀的百年當中，人類平均壽命飛速增長兩倍，從35歲增長至70歲，這樣的變化在整個人類史上都不曾有過。十七世紀時，40歲就已經(jīng)被認為是老年了，莎士比亞在他的一首十四行詩中寫道：

當四十個冬天圍攻你的朱顏，

在你美的園地挖下深的戰(zhàn)壕，

你青春的華服，那么被人艷羨，

將成襤褸的敗絮，誰也不要瞧。

And now， according to the statistics of World Health Organization: 45 years old is the upper limit of youth; before the age of 60 is middle age; from 60 to 75 years old is the young and old age， from 75 to 90 years old is the old age， and above 90 years old are people with longevity.

Nowadays， a lot of people between 60 to 70 years old do not consider themselves as senior citizens and they want to continue their positive social and vocational activities. The self-psychological assessment of the elderly population changes constantly and the trend of it is to improve their own importance. The necessity of the elderly in society has given them a new mental state and if a senior citizen still uses his vocational expertise (nowadays it is common for the elderly to work)， he will feel more confident and independent. I have repeated for many times that labor， is a best defender and the most effective medicine to prevent ageing. As long as a person has goals， and achieves his goals by working， generally speaking， the person is still in the stable mature age.

而現(xiàn)在，根據(jù)世界衛(wèi)生組織統(tǒng)計：45歲是青年時期的上限；60歲之前為中年時期；60-75歲為中老年時期，75-90歲為老年時期，90歲以上為長壽人群。

今天，很多60歲甚至70歲的人們不認為自己是老年人，他們想要繼續(xù)自己積極的社會與職業(yè)活動。老年人群的自我心理評估不斷變化，并向提高自身重要性方向發(fā)展，老年人在社會中的需要性已經(jīng)使他們有了新的心理狀態(tài)，如果老年人還在使用其職業(yè)專長（當今社會工作的老年人并不少見），他會感到更自信與獨立。我不斷重復(fù)，勞動，是最有效的捍衛(wèi)者，防止衰老最好的藥物。人只要有目標，只要還在通過勞動去實現(xiàn)其目標，籠統(tǒng)地說，這個人還處于年齡穩(wěn)定的成熟期。

The reaction of society to the initiatives of the activities of the elderly

社會對老年人活動積極性的反應(yīng)

Unfortunately， there is kind of dilemma. The problem lies in the society， especially the young population in society who hold the obsolete idea of the elderly and the social role of the elderly. In their opinion， the elderly are old ladies who sit on the benches to rest in front of buildings， and old gentlemen who sit in the couch reading a newspaper. However， many of the elderly in the modern time are very knowledgeable with much information， experience of life and work accumulated and great intellectual treasure. They do not want to spend the rest of their life in the couch lonely. Especially in the field of science， we still stick to the old provisions people who reach retiring age will leave and have rest. A person above 65 year old cannot act as the president of institutions of higher education， scientific research institute or so， but the scholars in this age of have just obtained the necessary knowledge and experience of manage a huge scientific institution， as well as the authority. In my opinion， such a provision is not only a hurt to individuals， but also a loss of society. In the countries of Scandinavia (Norway)， people hold positive view to working after reaching retiring age for a long time.

遺憾的是會產(chǎn)生某種困境。問題在于社會，特別是社會中的青年人群還持有對老年人以及老年人社會角色的陳舊觀念。在他們的觀念中，老年人是坐在樓前長椅休息的老婆婆，以及坐在沙發(fā)上看報紙的老爺爺，其實現(xiàn)代的老年人中，有很多都學(xué)識淵博，不僅積累了大量的生活與工作經(jīng)驗，而且也擁有巨大的智力寶藏，這些人并不想坐在沙發(fā)上寂寞地度過余生。特別是在科學(xué)領(lǐng)域，我們目前仍執(zhí)行著陳舊的規(guī)定：達到退休的年齡后，便離開去休息。65歲已經(jīng)不能擔任高等院校校長、科學(xué)研究院院長等職務(wù)，但這個年齡的學(xué)者剛剛獲得管理龐大科學(xué)機構(gòu)所必須的學(xué)識經(jīng)驗，以及權(quán)威性。在我看來，這樣的規(guī)定不僅傷害個人，對社會也是損失。在斯堪的納維亞（北歐）的國家當中，早就對到退休年齡仍工作的老年人持贊同的態(tài)度。

The prediction of the elderly in future society

對未來社會老年人的預(yù)測

The elderly population today are relatively poor in the master of new technology in a informatization society， although the computer courses for the elderly are very popular. The elderly learn to have connections with national institutions and social networks through acquiring the basic knowledge of the Internet. However， young people at the age of 30 nowadays will be more easily to accept the Internet in the old age， because they grow up in the computer age and the growth of knowledge goes in parallel with that of new technology. It is the main trend. In addition， electronic products are becoming increasingly humanized， after 20 years， the most complicated information systems at present will become the most common daily behavior.

Besides， in the future， the competition between the elderly and young people will be inevitable， but in the future there will be young population and totally new technology， and the elderly population today encounter some psychological barriers in the master of knowledge of computer， although not mastering these new technology and knowledge does not affect their daily lives， it will give the elderly extra possibilities， especially in working， young people or the elderly cannot go without the assistance of computer and networks. Besides， after 20 to 30 years， with new technology pops up， new age problem may also appear.

雖然針對老年人舉辦的電腦課程非常受歡迎，但是今天的老年人群對信息化社會中新科技的掌握比較薄弱，老年人可以通過學(xué)習(xí)上網(wǎng)的基礎(chǔ)知識，學(xué)習(xí)與國立機構(gòu)、社交網(wǎng)站的聯(lián)系。而目前30歲左右的年輕人群在他們的老年時代會更容易接受網(wǎng)絡(luò)，他們成長在電腦時代，他們的知識增長與新科技的成長并行，這是大的趨勢。而且電子產(chǎn)品越來越人性化，再過20年，操作目前最復(fù)雜的信息系統(tǒng)將會變成最普遍的日常行為。

而未來老年人與年輕人的競爭狀態(tài)也將不可避免，但未來也將會有青年人群和全新的科技，今天的老年人群在掌握電腦知識時遭遇一些心理障礙，雖然不掌握這些新的科技知識并不影響日常生活，但將賦予老年人附加的可能性，尤其在工作當中，年輕人或者老年人都離不開電腦、網(wǎng)絡(luò)的協(xié)助。而再過20-30年，出現(xiàn)新的科技，有可能也將產(chǎn)生新的年齡問題。

In the future the elderly will be different， they will be more active， confident， opener and mobile， they will grasp the economic and social fields firmly and prove their importance more convincingly. Finally， their life would be easier， because their population will be larger， according to relevant statistics， by the middle of 21st Century， about 40% of the population will be over the age of 60， and now the proportion is about 20%.

In the future the relationship between the elderly and young people will also change， because the youth period (of activities) will be extended and people of different ages will communicate more unobstructed， as far as I am concerned， the process has already started， on the Internet， people of different ages can seek a common concern and common language， develop them platform together， begin to have more in-depth understanding of each other and arouse mutual interest. Similarly， in the field of occupation， such change also occurs， different from 30 years ago， the gap of age is gradually blurred， in not only psychological factors， but also physiological factors， people of 40 years old have no much difference with those of 20 years old. People have different opinions of their physiological age and since they act differently， the attitudes of people around change.

未來的老年人將有所不同，他們更為積極、自信，更開放、機動，他們將緊緊掌握經(jīng)濟與社會領(lǐng)域，更令人信服的證明自己的重要性。最終，他們生活會更容易，因為人數(shù)更為龐大，據(jù)相關(guān)統(tǒng)計，到21世紀中將約有40%的人群超過60歲，而現(xiàn)在的比例為20%左右。

未來老年人與青年人的相互關(guān)系也將產(chǎn)生改變，因為青年（活動）時期的年齡界限將擴展，不同年齡段的人群交流更為通暢，我認為，這個過程已經(jīng)啟動，網(wǎng)絡(luò)中，不同年齡段的人群能夠?qū)で蠊餐P(guān)注的問題與共同語言，共同發(fā)展這個交流平臺，并開始更深入的相互理解，產(chǎn)生相同的興趣。同樣，在職業(yè)領(lǐng)域中，這種變化也在發(fā)生，區(qū)別于30年前，年齡的差別逐漸模糊，不僅表現(xiàn)在心理因素上，在生理因素上，現(xiàn)在40歲的人與20歲的人差別不大，對待自己的生理年齡也持不同觀點，其表現(xiàn)不同，周圍的人對他的態(tài)度也隨之改變。

This will also be the rudiment of the image of the elderly in the future， with time going， this trend will be more obvious， the basis of communication of people of different ages will gradually be expanded and the relationship between each other will be simpler. After 40 years， such scene is likely to be happen， a grandfather on a single board is having a discussion with his grandson about a question which is important to both of them. Why are there generation gaps now? Because there are no common interests between grandsons and grandfathers. Grandsons have already found their interest on the Internet and the communication between them becomes less. But 40 years later， when the young people who are at 20 to 30 year now enter into old age， they will be more prepared， and global informatization platforms will make them more adapted to life. Besides in the workplace nowadays， people need to continuously develop and update their knowledge. But the difference of different ages will still exist， which is the rule of human development， and contradiction promotes the development of life.

這也將是未來老年人形象的雛形，隨著時間的推移，這種趨勢將更為明顯，不同年齡段人群交往的基礎(chǔ)將逐漸擴展，相互之間的關(guān)系也將更為簡單。再過40年，有可能出現(xiàn)這樣的場景，某個滑著滑板的老爺爺，自由的跟他的孫子討論對雙方都重要的題目。為什么現(xiàn)在會有代溝呢？因為孫子跟爺爺之間沒有共同的興趣，孫子早就在網(wǎng)絡(luò)中找到興趣，爺孫間的交流減少了。但再過40年，當現(xiàn)在20、30歲的年輕人步入老年，他們將更有準備，全球信息化平臺讓他們更適應(yīng)生活，而且當今職場需要不斷地發(fā)展、更新自己的知識。但不同年齡段的差別仍將存在，這是人類發(fā)展的定律，矛盾推動著生命的發(fā)展。

The difference between the elderly in Russia and those in Western Europe

當代俄羅斯老年人與西歐老年人的差別

The governments and societies hold different attitudes， which is obvious. First of all， the elder in the West are more confident and have more independent behavior， more mobility and higher social importance. In Norway， females at 70 years old go to beauty shop， gym and restaurants， and our elderly ladies think that since their grandchildren have graduated from high school， their life ends. They do not have the original motivation of being active or having longevity. But at present the young people at 20 to 30 need to cultivate such motivation， for that they can understand their own values and stick to their important objectives of live after they are 70 years old. I am very pleased that recently the elderly of Russian have more interest in tourism， which is a good sign， but tourism is not the only existing objective of the elderly， the future small entrepreneurs will also open for the elderly， while at present the door of governments are shut tightly.

就政府與社會對待老年人的態(tài)度，差別顯而易見，首先西方的老年人更為自信，有更為獨立的行為，較高的機動性與社會重要性。在挪威，70歲的女士出入美容店、健身房、飯店，而我們的老奶奶們認為孫子們中學(xué)畢業(yè)了，生活也就結(jié)束了，沒有積極長壽的原動力。而目前20、30歲的青年們已經(jīng)需要培養(yǎng)這些動力，為他們到70歲之后懂得自身價值，善于歸納并堅持自己重要的生活目標打下基礎(chǔ)。我非常高興，近年來俄羅斯老年人對旅游的興趣不斷增長，這是一個很好的符號，但旅游并不是老年人唯一存在的目標，未來小型商企也將對老年人開放大門，而當前政府對老年人緊緊關(guān)閉著這扇門。

Elixir of eternal life

不老仙藥

I want to say directly that no medicine can guarantee your longevity， on and there will never be. Ageing is an extremely complex process and all of our genes， cells and systems play a role in the ageing process. It is impossible and completely ignorant to use certain chemical molecules to change the aging process. The only way to guarantee a long life and fulfill the maximum possibility of life is to live in a reasonable way. A variety of medicines and stimulating hormone can only be effective when people are sick and don't destroy the integrity of the life organizations of your body through blind practices.

我想要直接說明，任何藥物都不能保障你的長壽，沒有也不可能存在。老化是一個復(fù)雜至極的過程，所有我們的基因、細胞、系統(tǒng)都參與著老化的過程，使用某種化學(xué)分子改變老化進程是不可能的，也是完全無知的行為。只有合理的生活方式能保障長久的生命，并使得生命得以實現(xiàn)其最大的可能性。各種藥物與刺激素只能在生病的時候才有效用，不要通過盲目的行為破壞您機體生命組織的整體性。

If there is pathological ageing， it is disease and it needs treatment; if there is physiological ageing， to prevent it， my suggestion is to start from psychological health. We need to treat the difficulties and the complex relationships in life more philosophical. If we are angry about someone， or hate someone， the anger and hatred will reflected in our psychology pathologically， and once there is a psychological problem， psychosomatic disorder appears. All of these are from the brain. Paying attention to the development and protection of one’s brain needs to make the brain exercise. When we are young exercise the brain through learning， and in the maturity age and old age we need to seek professional practice method. If a person begin to grow vegetables after a long period of mental work， his mental organs will soon collapse， so people need long-lasting initiatives.

若存在著病理性老化，這是疾病，需要治療；若存在生理性衰老，要想防止衰老，我的建議是從心理衛(wèi)生著手。需要更哲學(xué)的對待生活中的困難、人際關(guān)系的復(fù)雜，如果對誰發(fā)火，痛恨某個人，這種憤怒與仇恨將病理性反映在其心理當中，心理有問題，則出現(xiàn)身心紊亂（psychosomatic disorder），所有種種都是自頭腦而來。關(guān)注自己大腦的發(fā)展與保護，必須要使大腦得到鍛煉，年輕時我們通過學(xué)習(xí)的過程鍛煉大腦，成熟期與老年期需要尋求專業(yè)的練習(xí)方法，如果一個人長年做腦力勞動，然后開始種菜，他的腦力器官將很快瓦解，人都需要長久的積極性。