Prof Greg Ibe, the Chancellor of Gregory University Uturu, gave me a topic to write, on Friday evening of 12 July 2019.
The PRO of Gregory University Elder Ogbonnaya Ogwo and I were in his sitting room at Uturu, when an ebullient young man(name withheld) barged in. The Chancellor said jokingly to the young man “please go and marry”. We all laughed humorously. Then he turned to me and said “Doc, why not write on the advisability of young people marrying early”.
Yes, we all concurred, young people if expedient should marry early. He married early. The Prof’s thoughts were genuinely that of fatherly concern. He reasoned that if we delay our marriages, especially the female folks, biological clock may be ticking forwards reproductive limitation.
For everybody male and female, at 40, a lot of social, biological, medical and psychological encumbrance set in. We now started throwing banters, “ a fool at 40 is a fool forever “. Then we became reflective.
Okay, let us do a little calculation on, why you must marry before 30 if expedient :
• Usually people retire officially (Civil Service and Public Service) at the age of 60.
• We know that some Judges, Justices and University Professors retire at 70.
• At retirement, read 60, people want to be free from all financial burdens.
• So people, want their children to complete their education, up to University level and get married before they retire.
• If that is the case, it is important to marry, before 30, and become parent by 32 – 33, so till the time you are still earning, your children would have completed their education, and found a nice life partner for themselves, and you are free from most of the responsibilities, before you retire.
• The same argument applies even for those in business. It is an anomaly for a 70 year old person to be doing a kindergarten school run for his direct children instead of grandchildren. Quite awkward.
What of the medical aspect?
• An adage says that “life begins at 40”, another one as if to counter that says, as I mentioned earlier “ a fool at 40 is a fool forever “.
• At 40, this is also often the time that the body starts to wear out, signalling the onset of lifetime diseases. So for those who married before 30, they would have finished their reproductive cycle before the onset of debilitation at 40.
• With hectic schedule, inconsistent health care patterns, and unhealthy habits, most people suffer from life threatening conditions, such as 1. Hypertension 2. Diabetes 3. Heart diseases 4. Hormone production 5. Aches & Pains. 6. Stress. 7. Osteoporosis 8. Metabolism.
• A man is lucky at 40, to be able to do certain things. A woman is lucky at 30 to be able to still do certain things.
• Some factors play a part in aging – as numerated above, let me just discuss 3 briefly viz Stress, Metabolism and Hormone production.
1) Stress
Psychological stress often has physical manifestation, and it has been noticed that stress of all sorts which produce – physical danger, pain, mental strain etc, can cause premature aging.
However, the biological process, whereby this happens is not known. Manifestation in women of psychological stress begins at 30, while that of men begins at 40. Hence we are encouraged to marry before 30.
Metabolism
As a person grows older, there is a drop in his Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), that is, the energy production of his body at its lowest waking level. For example the body temperature of an old person is, on average one degree less than that of a 25 year old.
Metabolic decline is a sign of the aging process, rather than a cause, but it has wide impact on the body’s functions and abilities.
Hormone production.
During a female menopause, which starts at 35 to 45, the ovaries stop producing oestrogen, and male production of testosterone also declines after the middle years – though it never reaches zero level.
That is why a 90 year old could still father a child if he manages to get it up. Remember, in the Bible, Abraham was 100 years old, when he fathered Isaac.
It was therefore natural for Gerontologists to consider using injections of the appropriate hormones to make up the body’s failing supply.
To marry or not to marry before 30 if expedient is a sini qua non for obviating any biological catharsis. Always be medically guided.
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