Odds of Living to an Advanced Age

mrstime said:
My father died at 59, grandpa was 76, grandma died at 85. I'm 85 now. I used to wonder why old people seemed so content knowing their time was short, I understand now.
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I've noticed the same thing. My thoughts of death in my 20s were morbid and fearful. Today, I have no fear of death. It's not my first choice of course, but I just accept it. It's surprisingly calming.
 

palides2021 said:
I know what you're talking about. I think what they are trying to say is that making it to 70 has its own problems, but men who are able to turn 70 and surpass that, have a better chance of making it to 80. Does that make sense?
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Yes, and I also think that the people who have genetic health problems usually die before 70.

I have a friend who lost both parents to heart disease in their forties, her one sibling had a sudden fatal heart attack at forty. She lived her early years expecting to die in her forties, traveling the world several times while in her thirties, never having children, very much an "in the now" person. She is 80 now and still healthy so obviously she didn't inherit the family heart problem.
 
Della said:
Yes, and I also think that the people who have genetic health problems usually die before 70.

I have a friend who lost both parents to heart disease in their forties, her one sibling had a sudden fatal heart attack at forty. She lived her early years expecting to die in her forties, traveling the world several times while in her thirties, never having children, very much an "in the now" person. She is 80 now and still healthy so obviously she didn't inherit the family heart problem.
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It's interesting how she was influenced by her family members's fates. I believe that besides genetics, it's also about environment, diet, and lifestyle. Might she have taken some precautions knowing this? Just curious.
 

palides2021 said:
It's interesting how she was influenced by her family members's fates. I believe that besides genetics, it's also about environment, diet, and lifestyle. Might she have taken some precautions knowing this? Just curious.
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I don't think she did. I know she ate rich food and drank alcohol without restraint and I don't believe she has gone a single day without smoking marijuana since 1966.

Conversely, the brother who had a heart attack at 40 was just the opposite, jogged, didn't smoke anything, careful diet. I'm not sure what the exact heart problem was but I'm guessing it was a defect of some kind that wouldn't be much affected by lifestyle.
 
JustDave said:
I've noticed the same thing. My thoughts of death in my 20s were morbid and fearful. Today, I have no fear of death. It's not my first choice of course, but I just accept it. It's surprisingly calming.
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No fear of death. But I bet you have a tremendous fear of any possible prolonged pain and suffering from illness before your death.
 
JustDave said:
I think those things make life better, but as I recall that interview with the folks studying Super Agers, they did not find such a correlation to exist, as we would expect. Super agers violated good health practices as much as normal agers. The conclusion, always tenuous of course, was that it has more to do with genetic luck.
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I wouldn't argue with that, as far as longevity goes.

When it comes to quality of life, I think diet, exercise and keeping your mind working is the best, and really all, we can do. :)
 
JustDave said:
I was listening to an interview with some researchers on super seniors, generally described as those who get to ripe old ages, but are still lucid and active. Anyway, someone offered a fact, which one of the researchers quickly supported. From memory it is something like, "You have better chance of making it to 80 than you do to 70."

I have a vague intuitive sense that this is right, but I'm not sure how such a study was conducted. Perhaps the percentage of those in their 70s who make it to 80 is higher than the percentage of those in their 60s who make it to 70. Of course, I don't have the data. I'm just trying to find a way that may explain the claim.
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I just got off the phone to my mother who is 90 years young. Sure, she's a little frail these days, and her days of going to the disco are over. That said, she's totally with it and we had a normal conversation. There's hope for me yet!
 
My dad lived to 98, my mom 86. Both of them suffered from long term illness during the last few years of their lives. My mom was paralyzed and bed bound with much pain for the last 8 years of her life. I absolutely have no desire to live a long life.
 

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