Is there a doctor in the house? On TV?

Something I've been wondering this evening: Does my age have anything to do with the fact that I sat in the family room this afternoon watching both Dr. Oz's new medical talk show and The Doctors on The U? Maybe not, as I can see audience members for both shows who are younger, if not young.

But here's another more telling clue: I sat there with pad and pen, ready to jot down any helpful hint the docs dropped that will help me with ringing in my ears, grumbling of my stomach after meals, cracking of my jaw when I yawn, and that other noisemaker, an aftereffect of eating too much broccoli.

And jot I did. Dr. Oz warned against indulging in caffeine and tonic water to avoid worsening that swishing sound in my ears, and I wrote it down. On the same topic (coincidence?), The Docs on The U pointed out a new therapy that can be performed by your friendly ear, nose, and throat doctor to help the noise, called tinnitus. So I now have two pages of scribbled health directives that I may or may not follow.

When did I start paying such close attention to medical shows—that is, real medical shows, not ER, St. Elsewhere, and Dr. Welby (to go back a ways). But then, when did I start reading Prevention every month? Was I always so eager to turn to the Health Beat section of the Trib? Certainly not in my fifties. What can I expect to focus on when my seventies roll around? I'm afraid to speculate.