Until the most remote ages, man has been afraid of aging both for the external changes and for several troubles and illnesses, linked with age: Doctor Faustus legend is an example.
It sure that modern society, based on competition as a result of dynamism and efficiency of the individual, give a great value to the physical and mental integrity maintenance.
Nowadays, many people, men and women, has a great awareness of these needs and, therefore, they appeals to a series of means to ameliorate their physical aspect, to make themselves more wide-awake, to demonstrate quickness of thought and, finally, to look younger.
Unfortunately, our attention is often caught only by the aesthetic element or rather we do generic treatments and exercises, without a rational and individual basis, which comes from proper enquiries.
It's strange that we worried about the aesthetic aspect, which is a positive thing, forgetting what we have "inside", the whole organism containing all the "mechanisms" and the "microchips" which are responsible of the skin function, of posture, of brain, of our image, but above all of our life.
So, health = beauty and not vice versa, even because defining universal aesthetic rules would be very difficult or better impossible.
In Indian tribes of the West of USA the principal beauty requirement is to have fat thighs and arms; "slim thigh" or "dog bottom" are among the worst insults for a woman of those tribes.
In the now prevalent culture, in Europe and in the North of America the fatness is refused.
On the contrary, in many societies, the overweight and the abundance of some shapes are essential requirements of beauty.
Maybe is there an individual so insensitive to totally ignore the beauty that surrounds us?
Beauty abounds and strikes us even in the most prosaic things.
Looking is enough to find it.
Beauty vivifies the commonplace.
It makes us more aware, it heightens our mind, it feeds our souls, and it enriches our heart.
The proved, appreciated, shared beauty is always a love expression.
Shakespeare wrote "the beauty and the ugly don't exist; it's the thought which produce them".
58 of 325 cultures which are codified in the Human Relation Area Files have adequate dates estimating the characteristics of female beauty.
A moderate or medium fatness is preferred by the 81%of societies which are considered by the Human Relation Area Files and a sharp gynoidus Habitus is usually well accepted and preferred by the 90% of the above-mentioned societies.
We won't deny that these beauty ideals, that become sexual choices, have a remote reference to fertility.
In many prehistoric cultures fertility was represented symbolically with women shapes with an accentuation of the circumference in the lower half of their body; even among Latins a large pelvis was a synonym of fertility.
Still in Italy, and particularly in the South, like other Mediterranean cultures, "omo dè panza" (a big-bellied man) means a man with great power and a large-hip woman means fertile woman; such observations can be found even in goods like the fat Buddha and the callipygian Venus.
Interindividual and individual differences, which are sensitive to the way of living and to the environment, are very important; they can help us to understand why structurally opposed shapes, like the Anglo-Saxon silhouette and the Mediterranean one, exist.
At this point asking which among the different silhouettes is the most welcome or if the Mediterranean one will keep as time passes such ideals of beauty is spontaneous.
As above mentioned, the pretension of establishing certain universal aesthetic rules meets many difficulties; as for human body the sizes described in the classical Greek art suggest the ideal standard of beauty and harmony, as well as health in every aspect. Greek artists aesthetic rules affect, more or less, the aesthetical opinions about our body and other's, at least in the West.
Nevertheless, many ancient cultural influences oppose this system of aesthetical values; the attractive value of the shapely girlfriend in certain populations or the obesity worship among the greater artists or also the dangerous thinness of the present-day models are examples of the impossibility of absolute rules about the aesthetic value of a human body.
Aesthetical Medicine must, about it, try to re-harmonize the aesthetic of a body, independently from its original male or female structure, modifying the habits and ways of living, which are responsible of the stress of eventual un-aesthetic defects and correcting them respecting scientifically rigorous methods.
This happens through three basic moments for the doctor:
Surely each of us has in his sentimental, social and professional life a disposition and a style, which is different from the others' one.
What a monotony if we all expressed in the same and foreseeable way! Difference is the colouring-matter of human behaviour.
Since we stay open to differences, we don't stop to enrich our personality and our culture, and all the more the expressive means understood and accepted by us will be, all the more our ability of proposing to the others will be full and strong.
The cultural, social and scientific growth of Aesthetic Medicine and Anti Aging Medicine is directly proportional to the big or small contribution that each of us can give through his knowledge, experiences and creativity.
We could say that all of us know perfectly what is better for each of us and for the others.
We must only listen to find that the greater part of the communications addressed us is shaped like advices.
We are trained, reproached, admonished, and exhorted.
We hear people say and say again what we should do, what we should think and which should be our aims.
There always is somebody ready to mention fashions, trends, styles, evidences and statistical data in order to confirm such opinions and to embrace such points of view.
Each new information has its value, if we know its source and we don't accept blindly the others' indications, considering them perfect.
There are some moments when we feel the necessity to be trained and stimulated, but only till we find the necessary balance to lead our action and to enliven our creativity.
It's right to stress again that Anti Aging medicine doesn't want and has no pretensions to obtain the elixir of eternal youth, but that it works with true humility and determination in order to help the others and ourselves to LIVE BETTER AND LONGER!
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