At 67, he assumed the answer would be 'that's just age'

Victor had actually asked once, in his early sixties. The response, a shrug and “well, at your age”, closed the topic for five years. It shouldn't have.

Age raises the odds. It isn't the diagnosis.

Prevalence rises with age, but age itself explains less than the conditions that accumulate with it, vascular changes, medications, blood pressure. Those are identifiable and often addressable, which makes “just age” a non-answer masquerading as one.

The second conversation

A telehealth intake asked Victor more specific questions than that first appointment had: his full medication list, his blood-pressure history, what “doesn't work” specifically meant. The provider coordinated one medication question with his cardiologist, the kind of check that exists precisely for men his age, before any prescription decision.

What he'd tell other men over 65

“Get a real evaluation, not a shrug. The questions they asked me were the appointment I should have had five years ago.” At any age, the provider review is the point, and treatment appropriateness at 67 is an individual clinical decision, not a birthday rule.