Ageing as a disease? Some voters in the United States are debating the issue as hotly as who to put in the White House in November.
Now that a woman has set her cap at the presidency and looks likely to win it, ageing has become an issue.
Nobody batted an eyelid when Mr Ronald Reagan became president two weeks short of his 70th birthday. Or when George H.W. Bush (the current president's father) took office at 64.
But now that someone with 'Mrs' as an honorific has a shot at the title, do we need to scrutinise the candidate's face for liver spots?
Hillary Clinton, who might move into the White House not merely as the Mrs but as THE chief executive, is just 60. That puts her at an age most politicians all over the world aspire to - and are ready for - the hot seat.
But a self-help book making headlines, doing the talk shows and flying off the shelves in bookstores, is questioning Hillary's wrinkles.
How Not To Look Old by former magazine beauty director Charla Krupp - who can't come to terms with her own age, as she doesn't reveal it - is now touting her book for women over 40.
There's no direct reference to Hillary. But the juxtaposition of the book's publicity blitz and Super Tuesday must make older women all over the world raise their crease-lined brows.
Chronological age itself doesn't quite matter as much as how you wear it, the book advises. But would a woman actually have time to fit in botox shots between presidential debates and frenzied campaigning? And if she did, wouldn't she be accused of capriciousness?
Predictably, there's bitchiness from the macho motor-mouth sector with a popular radio host claiming that Americans won't want to watch a woman age before their eyes. Unflattering pictures of the Democratic candidate with her fair share of crow's feet have been plastered over newspapers and websites.
It's male reaction you would expect from crusty old men trying to defend a hallowed men-only club from female infiltration.
What about the amazing brain behind the crow's feet? Even Hillary's detractors must acknowledge it's more important that the person with her finger on the Big Red Button be endowed with grey matter rather than the bimbo factor.
Research has shown that men are as prone to senile decay as women. But we don't see the need to bundle unattractive old men into retirement homes if we can make use of their experience and knowledge to influence world events. So we should not be expecting women to leave the stage once they've passed their aesthetic shelf lives.
