Live to 100? Need good genes, not good habits

[tutan]

Supposedly having an active social life is a main contributor to longevity. That’s not happening for me at this point. But I’ll intend to disprove that.

 

[ShadowBloom]

TBH I hope I don't make it past 90 and I'd settle for a lot less.

My parents both lived to 89. You know the saying the 60s are the go-go years; the 70s are the slow-go years; and the 80s are the no-go years? My parents hit 79 and it was like they fell off a cliff. I have no desire to make it to 89. I remember when I first read Ezekiel Emanuel's plan to refuse care/treatment after 75 and I thought it was awful. Now I think it makes an awful lot of sense and I hope I'm smart enough to take that approach, too.

 

[aaronc879]

I have no interest in living to 100 unless it's pain free with reasonable mobility and I don't have that at 44. If i'm not gone by 80 i'll fix that problem myself.

 

[DrRoy]

There's not much I can do about that now.

 

[Kork13]

I expect that most of my family will be fairly long-lived. Nearly all of my relatives who haven't died of cancer in their 40s (or younger -- proven genetic mutation that pre-disposes soft-tissue cancer) have lived into their 90s or greater. So our family is all or nothing.

On my father's side, my great grandmother lived to 101. My grandmother will be 96 in 2mo & going strong (grandfather passed at 88). On my mother's side, her father is 88 & also doing well. My father is in great health, 65y/o. Of course ... my brother (17) & sister (7), my mother (55) & uncle (47), and their mother (40) all died of cancer. ... Yup ... All or nothing.

 

[aja8888]

Alcoholism took out my Dad at 62 and his parents in their early 40's (coal mining community sins).

My grandmother on Mom's side made it pretty far, but she passed when I was off fighting a senseless war and I missed the funeral. I can't find any records of her death and how old she was, but my guess is she was in her late 80's.

My Mom made it to 83 but she did not lead a healthy lifestyle. She died of kidney failure and was smoking cigarettes the day she passed. Somehow, the booze didn't get her, too. But she gave it up in her 60's.

I just turned 80 and seem to be OK as I am really active and have no KNOWN bad things wrong with me. Still only take one prescription to help with more efficient urination.

I don't think 100 is in the cards for me though. And if I slow to a crawl and need to be taken care of, I'll start drinking and smoking again!

 

[Letj]

I don't think 100 is in the cards for me though. And if I slow to a crawl and need to be taken care of, I'll start drinking and smoking again!

[emoji23]

 

[Car-Guy]

I don't think 100 is in the cards for me though. And if I slow to a crawl and need to be taken care of, I'll start drinking and smoking again!

I still like beer, but in moderation. And for smoking, I quit ~40 years ago and still miss it today. If I was reasonably sure I could keep it to a pack a week, I'd start up again.

 

[aja8888]

I still like beer, but in moderation. And for smoking, I quit ~40 years ago and still miss it today. If I was reasonably sure I could keep it to a pack a week, I'd start up again.

They still sell 'em, so it's always an option, or you can "roll your own"!

If I was to start drinking again, I would focus on the fine wines and whiskeys I couldn't afford when I was drinking rot gut!

 

[Winemaker]

^^^ It's the rot gut stuff that kills you!

 

[sengsational]

I have no desire to make it to 89.

The weird thing is when you are 88, given you make it that far, you'll probably have a different perspective.

The step from current health level to an imagined, much less attractive distant future health level lets you be pretty confident in saying 88 is enough. But as one rides the health decline, that becomes the new normal, and doesn't seem as bad. That's not to say there are no 88 year olds that would pop a cyanide tab if one appeared, but I think many more might say that even though the list of discomforts is long, they've managed to live with them so far, and want to hang in at least another season or two.

 

[Dtail]

The weird thing is when you are 88, given you make it that far, you'll probably have a different perspective.

The step from current health level to an imagined, much less attractive distant future health level lets you be pretty confident in saying 88 is enough. But as one rides the health decline, that becomes the new normal, and doesn't seem as bad. That's not to say there are no 88 year olds that would pop a cyanide tab if one appeared, but I think many more might say that even though the list of discomforts is long, they've managed to live with them so far, and want to hang in at least another season or two.

Agree fully.

 

[Andre1969]

The weird thing is when you are 88, given you make it that far, you'll probably have a different perspective.

The step from current health level to an imagined, much less attractive distant future health level lets you be pretty confident in saying 88 is enough. But as one rides the health decline, that becomes the new normal, and doesn't seem as bad. That's not to say there are no 88 year olds that would pop a cyanide tab if one appeared, but I think many more might say that even though the list of discomforts is long, they've managed to live with them so far, and want to hang in at least another season or two.

It depends on what kind of condition you're in, both mentally and physically. A few of my relatives, once they got up there in age and were sick enough, said they just wanted to die and get it over with.

And even my Granddad, who made it to one month shy of 102, I can remember when he was in his mid-1990s, saying that it just didn't feel right, that he made it this far and was still alive. Now, I don't know if that meant he was waiting for death or what, as he was still actually pretty healthy. I didn't push the issue, but I think it was just that everyone he knew from his age group was dead.

 

[Sojourner]

In any case the real issue is healthspan not lifespan.

+100 (as in, living healthily to 100)

My DF is suffering from advanced dementia in his mid-80s, so living to 100 is out of the question. I'm sure he would tell us (if he could) that he actually would rather just call it a day and be done with it all tomorrow. He had many older relatives live into their 90s, but not a single one was in good health during their final years. I tend to think there typically isn't much quality of life beyond about 85, although I'm sure there are many exceptions to that. I hope I'm one of them, but I realize it's not likely and I'm okay with that.

 

[braumeister]

When my mom got to her mid-90s, she would frequently say she wished she could go to sleep and never wake up. It was about that time that she started losing it mentally.

 

[brett]

I know someone who was terminal and facing a very unattractive decline.

He recently made the decision to go forward with MAID, medically assisted death. His nearest and dearest were with him at home when it was administered.

He had no wish to put himself or his family through an extensive, debilitating process that had a certain outcome.

He wanted this choice for himself and for his family. He had previously led a very active and a very successful life. For him, it was the right decision.

 

[old medic]

I was able to grow up knowing all my mother's grandparents. They managed 86/99 and 94/103 averaging 95.5 Have pictures of 5 generations with both grandmothers and one grandfather with our kids, Another with our grandson and Moms parents. Moms now 80 and running wide open. Her Mom was active and driving at 94 when she broke a hip and that done her in. Pop dropped dead with a heart attack at 96, another 95 average.
Dads side, not as well, his parents 72/78. He made it to 84. They all average 78. He had one grandmother that died a years after I was born.
So averaging all of them I get 89.5.

 

[FIREd_2015]

I wasn't planning to give up my daily dose of ice cream so I'm glad to hear genetics plays a big role. I'm actually planning to get 23AndMe test. Don't know how useful the data will be though.

 

[ls99]

Early on never thought I 'd make it past 30, now on doorstep of 76, 80 seems probable. Not betting on anything.

 

[Koolau]

Nice piece in the WSJ here.

Paywalled, I'm sure, but the main takeaways:

If you can make it past 90, genetics goes up from 25% of the solution to more like 50%.

There are about 109,000 people in the US now over 100 years of age, up from 65,000 ten years ago. Despite the decline in overall life expectancy, roughly 20% of us have the genes to make it to 100 if we do everything else right.

I currently know one lady who just turned 100. I knew a guy who made it to 100 (then passed.) Another lady I knew lived to 106. By the way, the guy who lived to and then died at 100 was named, wait for it, Gene. It's all in the Genes after all.

 

[Koolau]

This whole discussion reminds me of the old joke: A cub reporter hears about this really old guy who lives in a cabin up in a holler. He goes up there to interview the old guy in hopes of learning the secret of a long life. To his surprise, when he meets the old guy, he's smoking a Lucky, sipping some Jim Beam, there are two young honeys with him - one on each knee. The reporter asks him his secret to such a long life. The grizzled old guy coughs, takes another drag on his cigarette and begins.

"Well, I smoke 5 packs a day. I drink a 1/5 of JB every day. I've been married 5 times and fool around several times a week on the side. I never go to the doc."

So the impressed young reporter then asks "Well, sir, just how old ARE you?

The old guy struggles to his feet, using two canes, he rubs his scraggly beard and says "Lord willin', I'll be 38 next month."

 

[Markola]

^^^^ Lol. It’s not the years. It’s the mileage!

 

[stepford]

Early on never thought I 'd make it past 30, now on doorstep of 76, 80 seems probable. Not betting on anything.

I hear you about thinking I wouldn't make 30. I did all sorts of risky stuff when I was younger. The irony is that I've gotten far more risk averse now that I'm an old guy and have so much less to lose.

 

[Music Lover]

I can't control my genetics, but I can control my fitness and my lifestyle.

I know far too many elderly people that struggle to get out of chairs...not because they have physical problems, but solely because they are too weak.

It must be terrifying to realize that if you fell you would be unable to get off the floor or ground without assistance. Yet many people in that situation refuse to strengthen their muscles.

 

[tmitchell]

My dad was a coach and an athlete who followed all the health recommendations you could ask for. Was still lifting weights and biking 20+ miles/ride and then got ALS and died before his 70th birthday. His father lived to 87 and grandma hit 99. Brothers & sisters still going strong. so he probably pulled the short straw for some reason.

Mom 82 is still smoking, eats like sh*t, has broken a hip and fractured her spine, has had covid & heart failure, and is getting on a plane this weekend to visit friends. Her heartiness amazes me. Most of the relatives on her side make it to late 80's or early 90's. If I had to guess she seems to be on track to meet her family's average of late 80's.

I have made heath a priority all my life, but based on these histories wondering how much of it really matters?