By Trevor Greenway
editor@lowdownonline.com

When 69-year-old Ed Chicoine works out with his family, his children – all six of them – can’t keep up with him.

There never really was a day when Chicoine’s kids – Tanya, Ben, Dayna, Karina, Jake or Whitney – could ever best their dad in physical work. He’s been in tip-top shape since his 20s and doesn’t see himself slowing down anytime soon – perhaps not for another five decades. 

“It’s all about the mindset,” said the Wakefield chiropractor, speaking with the Low Down from his village practice. “That was what I was exposed to when I was in my 20s and that really was my guiding light the whole time.”

Chicoine said he has been doing a “deep dive” on aging and longevity and exploring geriatric scientists and their work on aging. He’s hosting a workshop on aging on April 2, called Decoding the Aging Process, and says that humans are gaining the ability to live longer and longer.

“I’ve been following this stuff from these researchers called Geroscientists, and we’re at the point where people can live to 120,” said Chicoine. “That’s doable now.”

During Chicoine’s aging event at the Wakefield community centre, which is a fundraiser for Wakefield’s palliative care home, La Maison des Collines, the Wakefield chiropractor, who has been serving Hills patients for over 30 years, will discuss the “hallmarks of aging” and give aging residents tools and tricks to stay active and healthy well into their 80s, 90s and beyond. Tickets for the April 2 event are $10 and can be purchased through Chicoine’s website at www.chirochicoine.com. 

“What happens at the hallmarks of aging is that you’re screwing up your communication system from cell to cell and from different parts of your body,” said Chicoine, explaining that dead cells pile up in the body and become “totally useless.” 

“They’re called zombie cells,” said Chicoine. You know zombies in the movies? Well, that’s really what is happening – you have these cells that are not dead yet, but they are totally useless, and they need to be cleaned up.”

Chicoine is aware of the technical, medical jargon that often confuses regular folks – terms like “genomic instability” and “epigenetic alterations”,  which are usually only understood by those with a medical background. While these are some of the new 15 hallmarks of aging, Chicoine feels it’s integral for people to understand what’s happening in their bodies. 

“I’m going to tell a story,” said Chicoine. “I am going to compare it to owning a manufacturing plant and what happens in that plant. If you had a manufacturing plant and all these things that are happening in our body were happening in a factory, there’s no way you’d ever let it go that bad. But we don’t see it [in our bodies], and by the time symptoms occur,  you’re close to a crisis moment.”

Chicoine, who is close to retiring and handing his Wakefield chiropractic business off to his daughter, Whitney, will also unveil his “next adventure” at the workshop, which – he hints – will empower aging citizens to become as fit as he is. 

Just don’t try to keep up with him.