[CSteefel]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

If the Three had the power to not only arrest decay in the wielder's immediate environment, but also affect the physical life-potential of living beings in that sphere of influence, would the effect be limited to Elves only?
The reason I ask is that there is a 'test case' of sorts, in the mortal Bilbo Baggins.
According to The Tale of Years Bilbo came to live in Rivendell in the year 3002 TA. He was met by Frodo and the other Hobbits in Rivendell in late October 3018, and observed to be quite active, both physically and intellectually. By September 3019, not quite a year later, age had obviously advanced in him noticably, to the point of his barely being able to keep awake.
There may be a temptation to ascribe that to the destruction of the One, which had been a factor in lengthening Bilbo's life during his possession of it; however, since its obvious negative effect of 'devouring' him had already ceased with his giving it to Frodo, presumably so had its 'positive' power of keeping him young.
So, if it wasn't the One continuing to affect Bilbo's life-span even after he no longer possessed it, the other power could be Vilya, as wielded by Elrond. When that was removed, age would have come crashing down on Bilbo very quickly. That said, it looks to me as if your idea is at least a possibility.

This is what I would argue--Bilbo aged rapidly once the One Ring was destroyed. After all, Gollum managed to live another 70 years after losing the Ring, despite having survived 500 years or so already. Gollum never had the benefit of exposure to another of the Rings...