McCain's age is no joke

[Emit]

On a personal note, my mother, age 76, recently experienced a very odd phenomenon called Transient Global Amnesia, in which the doctors determined was most likely due to her cholesterol medication, a drug in the 'statin' family like the drug McCain takes -- In my mother's case, she essentially lost the better part of an entire day, not even recalling a 45 minute phone conversation with my sister. I took her to the ER and she spent 4 days in the hospital, mostly with tests being ran to rule out heart attack, stroke, etc.

~snip~

But McCain's age is no joke. He will turn 72 on Friday and would be halfway to 73 if elected and sworn in on January 20. That would make him the oldest first-term President ever, two years older than Ronald Reagan. He has survived four skin cancers (melanomas), including one in 2000 that was classified as Stage IIa.

McCain is two years older than his father was when he died suddenly of a heart attack at 70. He is 11 years older than his grandfather was when he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 61.

The United States cannot afford the risk that McCain would die suddenly in the middle of an international crisis.

Nor can we afford the risk of dementia. 22% of Americans over 70 are affected by mild cognitive impairment, while 13% of Americans over 65 have Alzheimer's. Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at age 83, but early signs were evident during his first term. Britain's "Iron Lady" Margaret Thatcher developed dementia at age 75.

Prescriptions can also adversely affect mental function. McCain takes Simvastatin, a cholestoral drug that can cause memory loss. McCain also takes Ambien to sleep, which can cause amnesia and "fugue states" like the one that caused Rep. Patrick Kennedy's late-night car crash. If the phone rang at 3 a.m., would McCain even wake up?

~snip~

http://www.democrats.com/mccain-owes-america-an-alzheimers-test

[Emit]

1. kick n/t

[Emit]

2. kick n/t

[ProgressiveEconomist]

3. kick

[JuniperLea]

4. My great granny lived to be 99.75 years old...

She was still cutting her own lawn in her 70's, and she brutally whipped my butt in Scrabble two weeks before she died. She never ceased to be my go-to person on many, many subjects.

All people are different. All people have different genes and different experiences.

I'm all AGAINST using McCain's age as an issue. Dead set against. Whole heartedly against. Flat out, unceremoniously against.

I think it's a very wrong thing to do. I know plenty of people in their 70's who are far better equipped mentally than McCain. And I know there are quite a few DUers who are in this age group.

I think this is a bad idea.

[Emit]

5. Me too, until I found out that he was on the same meds that caused my

elderly mother to have the amnesiac episode. Now, I'm not so sure.

And, her mother lived to be 102 years old.

And my father's mother worked FULL TIME until she was mid-90's.