Realistic article on Longevity

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LARS

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This is one issue where quality of age trumps quantity of years in my book.

Money quote: "We're trying to get people healthy up to the age of 75 or 80," Crimmins said. She calls this idea extension of quality of life within a given lifespan — basically, you may not live any longer, but you'll be healthier for more of the years you're alive.

"I'm not worried much about what happens after age 100," Crimmins said. "I don't believe many people will make it beyond 100, and most people who do are relatively healthy for that age.""


There are better longevity goals we could be meeting - Business Insider


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
 
I have no wish to become a centenarian. Previous relatives have come close- a grandfather died at 95 and his mother died at 93. As the link in the first article pointed out, quality of life is far more important. I know that eventually various body parts and processes hit their "sell by" date and begin breaking down to the extent that it really affects the quality of life. I'm hoping to postpone that time but don't want to live much beyond it.
 
Both my Grandparents on my Dad's side died from old age at 86 and 91. Nothing really wrong with them. My Mom not so lucky and although in good shape etc she had 3 bouts of cancer between 78 and 89. Each time she was able to continue to live alone, drive etc after recovering. She took really good care of herself with exercise, diet, etc. She had quality of life. My Dad had a massive stroke at 59 & lived 14 more long, miserable years. He really wanted to die all that time.
 
Quality of life has two components - one is dumb luck (genetic, lack of accidents, no random cosmic ray causing cancer, etc.) The other part is taking care of yourself. I think about my Dad at my current age, 57 (5 years before he died from lung cancer). His day consisted of getting up, hacking for a while, smoking cigarettes, eating crap and watching TV. My day usually contains some aerobic exercise, a few days a week with weight training, I try to eat healthily (most of the time), etc. I still may get hit by a bus (or that random cosmic ray) but I look and function like I'm 20 years younger than my dad at the same age.

Saw a similar thing with my grandparents, too. Mom's folks were older by 10 years, but looked and acted 10 years younger than Dad's. They were physically active and didn't smoke. They outlasted Dad's parents by 15-20 years, too. Almost all of those years with a high quality of life.

Quality of life is what it's all about, it takes some effort, but it's worth it. I don't know when my "sell by" date will kick in, but I'm trying to prevent early spoilage.
 
kcowan said:
Yes it is just the video!

For Canadians, here is a discussion of a new report from StatsCan:
Summary of longevity report results
Click to expand...

I thought I had asked before, but somehow my post didn't make it. How about a summary of the video? That was pretty much a blind link post. I can skim an article to find out what it covers, but you can't do that with a video.
 
The question in the back of my mind is how many good years do we have left to do the things we want to.

It is the reason I decided to retire early. It is the reason why we are working on our bucket lists. It is the reason why we adjusted our lifestyle to much healthier eating, lost weight, exercise regularly, and actually go for heath check ups. It is one of the reasons why experiences seem to trump 'things' for us over the past few years.

The clock keeps ticking away. As others have said, we do not want to be the richest people in the old folks home nor do we want to be sitting there wishing we had done some of the things that were on our retirement lists for years.
 
Yes, I remember that thread, and just revisited it.

The problem with answering the question is one must define "good". And I submit to you that one will find that his own definition is going to be quite elastic.

When you are in the 50s, you may think that good is if you can still finish a marathon, or a tennis match. Then, later when your knees start to hurt, you think good is if you can still walk or hike around on your own, without a crutch or wheelchair. Eventually, if you can get out of bed on your own to go to the bathroom, you think good is when you are not yet in a nursing home, and not yet wearing a diaper. And then, there are people who are happy if they still wake up in the morning to see sunlight outside the window, even if they are bedridden.

I dunno...
 
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HMMM

My dad died at 92, my mom at 102. I am hoping for my mother's genes. In her last few years she had a mindset where she could not do anything, but just sort of vegged.
I am too active to do that- I am 78 and am still actively doing things. I hope to live as long as my mother but without the debilitating attitude she had.
 
Here is an article on how functional health declines with age and accelerates at around age 77.

Article on aging
 

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When some people get old they get sick of living. All their friends are dead, etc. My Mom never got sick of living even though all her friends were gone but she still had her sister and us kids. She also still went to the senior center every week, bingo, etc so still kept busy. I have a good friend with MS who always said when she was confined to a wheelchair she would kill herself. Well that has happened and she has not. I think the end maybe if she has to go to a nursing home. I agree that the line keeps moving for a good life as we age. What is most important to her now (living independently) is not what was most important years ago.
 
Neither my partner nor I are great globe trotters - more homebodies actually - but I'm thinking that now that I'm 65, it might be a good idea to plan travels over the next decade or so while I'm still in good shape. My partner is much younger so it's more my situation I suppose healthwise. I have traveled when I was younger but still have many places I'd like to see. We are already planning a vacation next year to the Big Island (Hawaii) having done Oahu a couple of years ago. Would like to get Australia and New Zealand sometime. And back to see parts of Europe that I didn't get to in the past.
 
Souschef said:
My dad died at 92, my mom at 102. I am hoping for my mother's genes. In her last few years she had a mindset where she could not do anything, but just sort of vegged.
I am too active to do that- I am 78 and am still actively doing things. I hope to live as long as my mother but without the debilitating attitude she had.
Click to expand...
You are an inspiration. Keep up the good work or should I say genes? :)
 
Winemaker said:
My late DF said the real question is "Where will I die?"

Once you know, then don't ever go there.
Click to expand...



I have decided that is the hospital, so I will avoid that place, lol. I remember being about 8 years old and doctor telling my mom, I needed to go to hospital to get my tonsils taken out. I raised all sorts of hell refusing to go, so she relented. 45 years later they are still there with no problems.
About 10 years ago, I went to an outpatient center for a meniscus cleaning (I later figured out that was a worthless surgery money grab, as it was just normal fraying) and anesthesiologist asked me where I wanted my "knock out poison" inserted. I answered, " How am I supposed to know, you are the expert". He seemed surprised I had no prior experience in these matters.
 
I have no wish to become a centenarian. Previous relatives have come close- a grandfather died at 95 and his mother died at 93.
Click to expand...
To each their own. I have some longevity on both sides of the family and those in their late 90's have been alert and engaged until the end. On the other hand, my own mother died at age 80 and in the last few years was much less mobile and not able to do much of anything except watch movies and talk on the phone. However, while she was unable to travel or engage in any active hobbies, she did seem pretty happy and enjoyed what she was able to do as much as she could. She could no longer cook, but she could discuss what she liked and didn't like. Even walking was difficult, but she had a comfy chair she liked and a tv remote she could use to select her favorite shows. It was certainly a different existence from when she was a vibrant, athletic young woman, but as she liked to say "it was better than the alternative."

I hope I am lucky enough to enjoy a long life. But whether I am or not, I hope I am able to be thankful for whatever quality of life I do have and find a way to enjoy it.
 
you may not live any longer, but you'll be healthier for more of the years you're alive.
Click to expand...
This sotra' sums up my personal longevity plan, if you will.


At nearly age 72, I exercise an hour /day, take my meds, see my doctor semi-annually, stay active, watch my diet, and help others live as well as they can. Living a healthy life, is more important than living a long life IMO.

All this, just to stay away from the dirt apartment that awaits us all.
 
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I have noticed that life gets ever more precious as I age. I used to say things like "I hope I die before I get old" - or was that just hero worship? Anyway, now even as the joint pains increase, the doctor visits increase, the body slows down, I'm not yet ready to quit. I now try to figure how to cram in as much living as possible without doing anything too foolish (not gonna jump out of a perfectly good airplane - not gone doit.)

The one advantage I'm beginning to see is that my old "30 year time-line" to make my assets last is rapidly becoming a more realistic 25 or even 20 year time line. Still, I suppose I could live to 99, so... YMMV
 
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