Ageing is not just about the old. Exciting new research institute is opened in Ireland.

I have always been impressed with the way that Ireland has tackled the issues of ageing. Right from the beginning it has seen it as an opportunity rather than something to be avoided or ignored.

I have just read that yet another institution, devoted to ageing, has been launched. The Mercer Institute for Successful Ageing, is located on the campus of St James’s Hospital.

Funded by €17 million in capital support from Atlantic Philanthropies along with backing from the
Ireland's Department of Health, it looks to be doing some interesting work.

The launch event generated headlines in the Irish press that challenged the the idea that ageing is solely for the old. And indeed they are right. We think of ageing a subject that we can put in a box and open when we have had our 70th birthday. Think again.

As the director of the institute said, the most dramatic changes in our cells start at the age of just 38. Ten years on from this point in our lives, high blood pressure or arthritic changes or weakening muscles start to kick in so it’s important that people realise the things you need to do at this age to ensure healthy productive ageing almost to the end.

Here is what the Irish Times had to say. I am sure the Institute will make a great contribution to our knowledge of ageing and what to do about it. Dick Stroud