16 hours ago, Matt Sdeel said:

The question is:  who died happy?

 

4 hours ago, dave2013 said:

First, I believe that 90% of one's life span and overall health is influenced by genetic makeup over which one has no control.

First, I  am pretty happy with the way my life turned out.  I was pretty lucky.  First and foremost I never had a job I didn't like.  I never woke up in the morning dreading to go to work.  When I was looking for work I turned down higher paying jobs for jobs I thought would be more fun.  I had a happy marriage that lasted 60 years.  I had some sorrows.  I lost my first wife, a son and a daughter.  They were unhappy episodes but I never dwelt on them.

I never paid much attention to my diet.  I ate what I liked.  I was never into healthfoods or supplements.  But I never got started smoking.  Not even as a teen-ager.  When my parents gave me permission to smoke when I was about 16 I suppose I thought, "Then what's the point?"

I'm now 91 years old and the only thing wrong with me is arthritic feet and a balance problem.  Perhaps a walker is in store for me in the future but I can still navigate on my own two legs for now.  And I am overweight because I still enjoy good food and love to eat.  Except for breakfasts the food here pretty much sucks.  So I have a refrigerator-freezer and a stove and a microwave and an air fryer so I can cook myself.  And I make myself extra-rare steaks and roasts or diced spam and Ramen noodles or Hungryman frozen dinners.  And yes, I still drive so I can go grocery shopping when I need to.

I don't really know about genetics.  Both of my parents died before their 80th birthdays.  My brother made it to 85 and died two or three years ago.  He had blood cancer and congestive heart disease.

Two years ago I was hospitalized for a blood clot in my leg.  When I got out of the hospital I had a battery of blood tests.  I was told there was a leukemia indicator and they wanted to take bone marrow.  I declined.  I said, "Maybe that's the thing that's going to get me but no invasive procedures."  I don't want to linger in a death bed and I have the means to make sure that doesn't happen.

I'm enjoying life right now.  I suppose I'm happy by some scale.  I've got no worries here at Peachtree Retirement Village.  Bingo twice a week.  Dime poker twice a week.  A social hour on Thursday afternoons with ice cream and punch.  On Friday afternoon we are having a St Patrick's Day dance and I have my green leprechaun hat to wear.  I'll have lots of ladies to dance with because the women here attend all the social functions and for some reason the men are stick-in-muds and stay in their rooms.  I participate in everything.

And I'm grateful for AVSIM for my window to the world outside since I almost never watch TV news anymore.  I have PM pen-pal here to discuss world events with.

So let me say if I die tonight that's OK.  If live to be 100, well, that's OK too.  Whenever, I think I will probably die happy.

Noel 

 

Bad life choices will always kill you early, unless you die of something else first (e.g. get run over by a car or maybe inherited some poor genes or a disease). People love to pacify themselves with excuses, but that peace is lessened when the doctor gives them the bad news and then it's too late.

 

4 hours ago, martin-w said:

25% is genetic, Dave, according to this article.

Well, I don't believe that.  I'm not surprised that the medical establishment and Big Pharma would promote a number like that, as it means that everybody really need all the doctors and specialists and drugs - more money for them.  Healthcare in the USA is a shameful business as it is all about the money.  Anyway, I've seen too many examples of people who are overweight and/or don't live a healthy lifestyle live to be 85, and other people who never smoke, exercise regularly, and who are not overweight die in their 50s or 60s.

One of my aunts has been obese for all of her adult life, has never exercised, and has never eaten a healthy diet.  She did blood work recently and her cholesterol level was excellent, despite her diet.   She is 79 years old, and while she does have some health issues, she's still kickin.

The percentage of health influence due to genetics may not be 90%, I was exaggerating a bit, but it is likely at least 50% and IMO around 65-75% of the equation.

I'm excluding health effects due to major negative factors such as smoking 2 packs a day, drinking heavily, breathing toxic or polluted air in a city or workplace, exposure to known carcinogens, etc.

Dave

12 hours ago, dave2013 said:

Well, I don't believe that.  

 

Its just an estimate, Dave. This PubMed paper has it as 20 - 40%.

 

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8836117/#:~:text=According to the estimates of,clustered in families [4].

 

On 3/13/2025 at 11:55 AM, birdguy said:

I never paid much attention to my diet.  I ate what I liked.  I was never into healthfoods or supplements.  But I never got started smoking. 

Good dental hygiene too? 

On 3/12/2025 at 4:47 PM, Patco Lch said:

and judging his physique I don’t think he was a Richard Simons fan

Not only that, but of all things heart disease was a contributing factor in Richard Simmons death at only 76!  So yeah there's certainly other factors at play.

14 hours ago, Matt Sdeel said:

Good dental hygiene too? 

I am terrified of dentists.  Before I'll go to one my teeth have to be hurting me more than the dentist is going to hurt me.  And believe me, I have had some pretty painful episodes in the dental chair.  The travelling Navy dentist when I was in Korea with the bicycle powered drill was an experience I would wish on nobody.

I have an Oral-B toothbrush and I brush religiously three times a day to keep the dentist away.  I still have all but three of my original teeth.

I haven't seen a dentist in over 20 years.

Noel

12 hours ago, birdguy said:

I am terrified of dentists.  Before I'll go to one my teeth have to be hurting me more than the dentist is going to hurt me.  And believe me, I have had some pretty painful episodes in the dental chair.  The travelling Navy dentist when I was in Korea with the bicycle powered drill was an experience I would wish on nobody.

I have an Oral-B toothbrush and I brush religiously three times a day to keep the dentist away.  I still have all but three of my original teeth.

I haven't seen a dentist in over 20 years.

Noel