7 days until LOST returns!!!

There are only 7 more days until the season 5 premiere of LOST. I know you can hardly wait! Perhaps one of the big questions that we'll get an answer to is How is it that this guy (Richard Alpert) stays perpetually young? I think it's just too simple that it's "because of the island." He was one of the hostiles on the island back in the 60's when the Dharma Initiative was there. He was in his mid thirties when Ben was a little boy, when he interviewed an elementary school aged Locke, recruited Juliet, and as Ben grew up to eventually become the leader of The Others. Why hasn't Richard aged, and just how old is he? We want answers JJ Abrams! LOST is the best show ever.