Hillary Clinton, 68, had a health scare during Sunday's 9/11 memorial.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, 70, pledged to release his medical records.
Trump turned 70 this summer, while Clinton will turn 69 on Oct. 26. That makes them the oldest presidential nominees to go head to head in an election year, and if Trump wins, he’ll be the oldest first-term president in history (Clinton, if elected, will be the second-oldest, after Ronald Reagan).
But while both candidates pack decades of experience, their age may not be a bonus when it comes to health. Clinton made news on Sundaywhen she appeared to collapse at a 9/11 memorial event — which her campaign first blamed on the heat, then on about of walking pneumonia
All of which raises the question: What should a person’s health look like at 70 years old?
It’s a tricky question to answer, partly because a 70-year-old today is different from a 70-year-old in 1916, or even 1966.
“We’re healthier [at 70] now than we ever have been in human history,” says Steven Austad, Ph.D., a professor at University of Alabama at Birmingham and the scientific director of theAmerican Federation for Aging Research.. Plus, the more years we rack up, the more different from others in our age group we become. “All 20-year-olds are pretty much the same, but [all] 70-year-olds are not,” he adds.
On average, he says, upper-class septuagenarians are much more likely to be healthy and live longer than those in the middle or lower class. And lifestyle decisions made over the years — salad or fries? jog or TV? — start to show more than ever once you pass 65.
But there is some common ground when it comes to turning 70. Here’s what experts say to expect.
Immune system declines
“Every one of our functions declines at about 5 percent every 10 years,” says Dr. Michael Roizen, the chief wellness officer at Cleveland Clinic That includes the immune system, which becomes less sensitive to allergens as you pass 65. But it’s also less aggressive when fighting off illness.That includes the immune system, which becomes less sensitive to allergens as you pass 65. But it’s also less aggressive when fighting off illness.
“After 65, your immune system doesn’t react as well,” says Roizen. That means viruses that wouldn’t have been particularly dangerous earlier in life, such as the flu, carry a bigger risk. Exercise and other healthy lifestyle choices can slow the immune system’s decline, but can’t stop it.
Higher risk of heart disease & stroke
Because plaque builds up in arteries over time, people are more vulnerable to heart attacks and strokes in their 70s than in their 60s, and that vulnerability continues to increase over time.Thankfully, effective treatments can now combat these conditions: “If you look at president Eisenhower — who developed hypertension — he [suffered from] a stroke [and] heart attack because we didn’t have medications [back then] to decrease plaque,” says Roizen.
Memory may falter
“Your chances of getting Alzheimer’s doubles every five years after 65,” Austad says. And, in the 70s, a diagnosis means a serious jump in a person’s risk of mortality — 61 percent of those with Alzheimer’s at 70 are expected to die before age 80, as opposed to 30 percent of those without Alzheimer’s, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
