def age(self):
        """
        :returns: The age of the user associated with this profile.
        """
        if self.is_logged_in_user: 
            # Retrieve the logged-in user's profile age
            return int(self._user_age_xpb.get_text_(self.profile_tree).strip())
        else:
            # Retrieve a non logged-in user's profile age
            return int(self._age_xpb.get_text_(self.profile_tree))