Ask A Genius 1187: Getting Older, Flossing, and Masks
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/11/13
*Interview conducted in November, 2024.*
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: So what was that tweet about again? I remember seeing it. It was about a dirty mask from today, October 26th.
Rick Rosner: Yes, it was about a dirty mask. I had posted a picture of a worn-out mask. I’ll add the tweet link later.
Jacobsen: What was the context?
Rosner: I still wear a mask because COVID is still circulating. Even though we’re in a bit of a lull here in LA, with current COVID levels about one-seventh of what they were five weeks ago, they tend to rise again around Halloween and peak in late December into January. Even during this lull, I continue to mask up, especially since I’m often around people. I go to the gym, and Carole and I even went to a movie today, which we don’t do often since streaming offers so much at home. But we made an exception and saw a movie about Saturday Night Live’s first episode in 1975—it was pretty good.
Jacobsen: So, you try to make your masks last as long as possible?
Rosner: I don’t see any reason to replace them often, especially the ones with two straps that wrap around the head for a tighter fit. They’re harder to find. So, I try to use them until they wear out, even though they can get pretty gross. If I’m careful, I can stretch one mask to last about three or four months. The metal nose piece is usually what fails first, but if I avoid bending it too much, it holds up. The straps turn grayish-brown from rubbing against my hair, and the sides and the bridge of the nose get grimy from air sneaking in around the mask. Sometimes I spill coffee on them, and occasionally I burp into them, too. So, yes, they do get nasty over time.
Jacobsen: Does that affect the mask’s function?
Rosner: No, it doesn’t impact how the mask works; it’s just gross. People don’t usually notice or care, especially at the gym, where I spend most of my time. Even if someone did notice, it wouldn’t matter. I’m just a 64-year-old guy who looks a bit quirky, not James Bond. A dirty mask won’t change that. Rotten tomatoes.
Jacobsen: Do you maintain basic health standards with exercise and supplements?
Rosner: Yes, I still go to the gym at least five times a week. Recently, I joined another gym near my house, so now I go about six or seven times a week, totaling between 90 and 120 sets per day. As for flossing, I don’t do it as often as I should—it should be twice a day, but I’m lucky if I manage half that. And I still take supplements, though I’ve cut back on the variety a bit. I’ve added a lot of fisetin, which is a senolytic. It supposedly encourages old, dysfunctional cells to self-destruct, reducing the strain on the body and lowering inflammation. I noticed a difference when I started taking it; I didn’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to urinate, which suggests it’s helped clear out my prostate.
As you age, your prostate tends to enlarge, making it harder to empty your bladder completely. The prostate encircles the urethra—the tube that carries urine from the bladder out of the body—and when it swells, it pinches the urethra. This results in incomplete bladder emptying. Since taking fisetin, my symptoms have improved, and I don’t feel the same pressure at night.
And with aging, you often wake up frequently because your bladder feels full, which can disrupt sleep every 90 minutes or two hours. With fisetin, I might only wake up once during the night, or not at all, depending on when I go to bed.
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