Passive ageing exists
[3 December 2003 - By Miles King - The Star - South Africa] London - Just as smokers affect people around them, it seems that in the very same way, old people can cause symptoms of old age to appear in the people round them, however young they are. British Professor Ivor Knutsford feels he has enough evidence to show that ageing not only affects old people themselves but the people who have to mix with them, look after them and live with them. "We've done surveys of people who see a lot of old people daily, and we find that their living patterns tend to change under the influence of old age round them. Not only old people tend to talk louder, and slower, but also people who mix with them. They tend to eat slower and less. They also dribble slightly more than the average. The inference is inescapable. Passive ageing exists."