In the wake of Chasity Bono’s big decision to have gender reassignment surgery, a transgender center in Maryland says they are busier than ever. One client on their roster is Renee Ramsay, formerly Richard—a 77-year-old man becoming a woman. No Friskians, that was no typo: 77. But doctors say that although the sex-change surgery is a complex procedure, age is not typically an issue.

Renee’s story actually kind of tugs at my heartstrings. She used to be in the military, was married twice, and for a long time would cross-dress when off-duty because of the whole don’t-ask-don’t-tell thing. So why did Renee wait so dang long to get lady parts? Well ... she never wanted to upset her wife, who passed away recently. And well ... it ain’t cheap. Renee has been saving up for this moment almost her entire life. At 77, she’s finally happy and feels like herself. I guess it’s never too late to change ... your gender. [CBS]

Scientists are developing a “fountain of youth” pill from a chemical found in the soil on Easter Island. In testing, animals have lived 38 percent longer than expected as a result of the chemical. The development of an anti-aging pill sounds like a great idea—Juan Ponce de Leon dedicated a great deal of his life looking for the fountain of youth—but this pill will also have major repercussions for society. We wonder whether this pill will improve the life of those living or just delay death. If the body continues to fail, but life continues, people on this medication could experience a whole host of problems as a result of living well-beyond 100. After the jump, why we actually wouldn’t want to live for years beyond the usual time frame.

More than half of the 272 women survey in a Cornell University study said they’d be willing to use extreme dieting methods to meet their wedding weight goals, and one in five women in a Fitness magazine survey of 1,000 brides said they’d postpone their wedding if they didn’t met their weight goal. [Women’s eNews]

 

• Life lesson from The Golden Girls: Socializing with friends and family can improve cognition and might prevent dementia in older women, according to a study in The American Journal of Public Health. [Medical News Today]

 

Kristin Davis is launching a fashion line in association with Belk, a department store chain, where she shopped growing up. “It was the nicest store we had, and I’d save my allowance to go to Belk.” [AHN]