Spanky
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Sam said:One minor disagreement: We have access to the most expensive health care, not to the best.
Which country or region provides better health care than the U.S.? Please elaborate.
Sam said:One minor disagreement: We have access to the most expensive health care, not to the best.
Spanky said:Which country or region provides better health care than the U.S.? Please elaborate.
HaHa said:Zipper's role is to be our current Annoying Canadian. We must at all times have at least one, and he has kindly and expertly filled that role for several years.
Milton said:Who fills the "Annoying American" role?
Sam said:One good measure of health care quality is longevity.
I've been reading a book, "The Denial of Aging", that calls precisely that hypothetical causality into question. The data may correlate but longevity may not follow from those factors. Longevity may have nothing to do with culture, lifestyle, or diet. It may be reduced by bad cultures, bad lifestyles, & bad diets, but the converse ain't necessarily so.3 Yrs to Go said:Not sure that health care is the dominant factor in longevity. I think cultural influences, especially diet and lifestyle, play a more important role.
Yup. Or at least genetics is the vast majority of of what determines a long life. Worst case is that there may be no other longevity-enhancing effects and everything else affecting longevity is the negative results of random .44-caliber impacts.SamHouston said:Nords, am I understanding you correctly then that this author believes that the deciding factor in individual longevity is basically genetics, as indicated by family history, etc.?
The author is a believer in evidence-based medicine. She's strongly against judging physician's & hospital's performance (or lack thereof) by their patient mortality. The good news is that if I make it to my 70s I can stop caring about PSAs, cholesterol, & colonoscopies! What more reason to live do I need?!
Khan said:after retiring, losing 60#, and much lowering BP, I feel much better (mentally/physically).
Nords said:Yup. Or at least genetics is the vast majority of of what determines a long life. Worst case is that there may be no other longevity-enhancing effects and everything else affecting longevity is the negative results of random .44-caliber impacts.
And worse than that-- it may not be your immediate family but rather the overall racial genotype (Caucasian, African-American, Asian). So even if our parents lived to their triple digits, it may only mean that less rotten random stuff happened to them than will happen to us. Like flipping a coin or picking a truly skilled fund manager (not just random chance), it may take over 20 generations to conclusively conclude that you have a good longevity heritage. Or that you don't.
When I read this book I was surprised at the degree of my longevity confirmation bias. I've come to expect that with investor psychology, but apparently I still have a blind spot with longevity
And for those of you thinking ahead, the book claims that physician-assisted suicide ain't the panacaea it's made out by the media to be. The "best bet", if one is able to avoid frailty and the vicious downward spiral of assisted-living & full-care facilities, seems to be living independently at home as long as possible and then moving straight to hospice.
The author is a believer in evidence-based medicine. She's strongly against judging physician's & hospital's performance (or lack thereof) by their patient mortality. The good news is that if I make it to my 70s I can stop caring about PSAs, cholesterol, & colonoscopies! What more reason to live do I need?!
I find it interesting that you'd immediately dismiss the suggested book yet propose one of your own. I've read the Okinawa Diet Plan (plus its sequel) and the Denial of Aging author also references it, saying that a review of its data suggests more than what the Willcoxs initially found. So... have you read Denial of Aging? Maybe you'll go through the same paradigm shift that I experienced.STEVEKEYS said:Not buying it at all. I highly suggest reading "The Okinawa Diet Plan".
I agree that a good lifestyle won't shorten a lifespan, and that a bad lifestyle will probably shorten a lifespan.STEVEKEYS said:Disease rates skyrocketed for this group.
The difference again? Lifestyle.
I've heard a great analogy for genes....your genes are the loaded gun and your lifestyle determines if the trigger gets pulled.
I agree. Lost 25# and started regular cardio workouts. Lower BP and athletic resting pulse rate. The rewards are now.Khan said:Though I must say that after retiring, losing 60#, and much lowering BP; I feel much better (mentally/physically).
That's funny, the last time Boeing retirement data was quoted on this forum was to "prove" that ERs die younger.SonnyJim said:The basic premise is that the earlier you retire, the longer you will live.
What a coincidence. That's just about the time that I left sea duty, started a family, switched my career to training commands, and capped it all off with an ER.The most precious, creative and innovative period in your life is the 10-year period around the age of 32. Plan your career path to use this precious 10-year period wisely and effectively to produce your greatest achievements in your life.
Don't believe everything you read on the internet.SonnyJim said:I was just going to post on longevity that is very relative to this forum. The basic premise is that the earlier you retire, the longer you will live.
http://www.mytruebrain.com/Creativity%20&%20Longevity.pdf
I look forward to this discussion.
SonnyJim
Retirement vs Longevity
A 2002 article by Sing Lin, Ph.D. titled "Optimum Strategies for Creativity and Longevity" (See: www.seeya-downtheroad.com/InformationPage/WhyRetireYoung.html) reported that people who retired later died at a younger age. It was based on data from a Boeing study.
In a later paper he reports that the old Boeing data (may be 20 yrs. old) was flawed and sights a 2001 Sandia Labs study which shows that there is no clear influence of age of retirement on life span for age of retirement below 65.
Milton said:Who fills the "Annoying American" role?