Premature aging??

[CJK]

Dh is 32 but people guess his age at about 40. He has very grey hair, glasses, and is very intense (experiences a lot of stress). That said, he is physically fit and dresses age-appropriately.

Last week, he had to go to a work conference with people from work who he only sees a couple times a year. Just as dh was walking up to the chalkboard to write something, a female coworker said, "wow - he's aging before our eyes". Dh pretended he didn't hear the comment and started to write.

When he told me this story, I was LIVID. How DARE someone be so rude. I was in shock and dh tried to hide it, but he was understandably upset. After I calmed down a bit, I started to wonder if there could be anything medically wrong with premature aging? He did have cancer a couple years ago, but it was caught early and was removed (no chemo required). He exercises religiously, but there's no denying he does look much older than his biological age. He doesn't deal with stress well which is why he exercises so regularly. He's going in for a physical in a couple months.

Does anyone have any thoughts on premature aging? Is it purely a vanity issue or could there be underlying issues (ie. premature death)? I hate to think that way, but I really don't know. Thanks for listening.

 

[eeyore kelly]

Early gray hair is usually genetic like balding. Premature aging has nothing to do with death. DH is 35 and his beard is more white than brown, and he has a lot of stress.

 

[Kermit]

If it's just his hair and wrinkles that make him look older, I'm guessing that it's probably not much of an issue. It's probably mainly a cosmetic issue. However, you may want to sit back and look at him from a distance some time and see if there's something else. If you can't distance yourself well enough, you may want to ask a friend to do it. The tricky part is that you'd want someone to watch him without him knowing it (so that he would act like he normally does), but you don't want him to feel like you're going behind his back. Since it bothers him, too, he probably wouldn't mind. What I'm thinking is maybe that he moves like an older person, and maybe there's some pain that he's gotten so used to that he doesn't even realize it's there. If that's the case, you might be able to figure out what's causing the pain, fix it, and then he'd feel better and look better.

Good luck!

 

[NMAmy]

DH has had white hair since he was in his late 20's but then again, his 3 brothers and his dad all have the same hair. People have always thought he's older than he actually is even though he's fit and energetic.

It only annoys him when people think I'm his daughter or dd is his granddaughter. I look younger than my age so we get some weird looks sometimes if he hugs me or kisses me in public but we don't care.

I can't believe that woman was so rude to your husband. What a twit.

 

[pjlla]

Is he a smoker or has he been in the past?? That can really age your skin.........P