Aging Naturally: In an exclusive TIME book excerpt, Dr. Andrew Weil shares his secrets for maximizing health and happiness--no matter how old you are
[17 October 2005 - Time magazine] ... Your thoughts, emotions and attitudes are key determinants of how you age. The most common forms of emotional imbalance--depression and anxiety--are so prevalent that they can properly be called epidemic. They affect people of all ages, including a large percentage of the elderly. Doctors manage them with antidepressants and antianxiety agents--the key word here being "manage." These drugs suppress depression and anxiety; they do not cure them or get to their roots. ...

Also from Time:
Living It Up: From septuagenarian mountaineers to nonagenarian CEOs, Japan's greatest generation refuses to quit
Alpine climber Yuichiro Miura knows something about rapid descent�in 1970 he became the first person ever to ski Mount Everest, hurtling more than a mile down the peak's icy flank in less than two minutes, and barely surviving. But handling the downhill slope of his own life proved trickier. Miura retired from climbing at age 60, deciding he was too old to haul himself up mountains anymore, but after five lazy years of Japanese beer and Korean barbecue, he had an epiphany: "I was only talking about my past, not my future. I wanted to challenge my dreams again." Miura decided that it was time to retire from retirement, and what better way to reverse his downhill slide than to go back to the top of Everest? Friends thought he was nuts, but in 2003, after five years of training, Miura�then 70�became the oldest person ever to reach the roof of the world. The remarkably buff septuagenarian is now planning another Everest ascent in 2008 at age 75. "When you're getting older, you think about the things you can't do and all the reasons," he explains. "But if I have to die in a hospital, I might as well die on Everest." Nearly one out of five Japanese�close to 25 million people�are over 65, a statistic that inspires endless fretting and political debate over social stagnation, overburdened pension plans and inadequate health care. But being one of the world's grayest nations, with a median age of 42.6 years and rising, doesn't mean Japan is turning into a vast nursing home. ...