Good genes and resilience....often people with difficult lives live to be quite old too...so it can't be cushy lives.

People from long ago did live long lives IF they survived the biggest killer back then. Infectious disease. TB, typhoid, influenza, diptheria, tetanus, botulism, measles, mumps, rubella, small pox and the variety of plagues.

We have to look at how statistics are gathered. There is the 'mean' which means average. One person living to 100 will skew it to old age...Infant mortality was high back then, so infants, kids under 5 died in droves, so the mean got skewed to the younger age of death. The mean is an average.

If you survived to 5 your chances were a lot better. For women if you survived childbearing years, your life span chances were improved. If men survived war, they had a shot at growing old.

If we look at the 'median' it takes out the skewing factor of the very young or very old deaths. It is a better statistic. Median is like an average, but with the skews taken out.

The 'mode' gives you the best info...Mode is the breakdown or block of numbers dying in an age range. You would see a big block of death from brith to age 5. Then another one in females around childbearing ages...and men in war related death. If you hit 40, you had a good shot at 70.

Obesity was less common, so we had less of that, so probably less cardiac, diabetes, stroke. I wonder about cancer...we really don't know if cancer rates are any different, as cancer wasn't always diagnosed.

People ate less, and worked more, had family and community support systems right around them.

I have read that most people live well into their 70's barring accidents or hereditary disease. Infection is much less of a concern now, except for resistant 'germs'. I have read that the potential life span of man could be 120....who knows it could be even longer. I wonder how selfish I should be at times.

In my line of work, I have witnessed a lot of early death, worked with parents of SIDS babies, dying kids, young moms with terminal cancer, young dads, accident victims, it was heart wrenching. I also worked with older people dying, most died with dignity, in peace, with family or caring folks with them...but it is never easy. It has never been easy. Doing a genealogy was remarkable, as these 'ancestors' came to life with names, dates of marriage. One couple was married on Valentines Day in the 1700s, another on the day after Christmas. They were so much like us, and yet so different.

I think how well we live, how much we contribute to the world is more important than how long we live...knowing you....I think you would be the first to agree. Some people who have died early, have contributed more than I could have in 5 life times.

There is some quote I cannot remember the whole thing....something like this:

Sing as if no one is listening
Dance as if no one is watching
Love as if....

OK some one finish that for me....I can't remember, but it it a great quote.

I am off to hit the pillow.

"Sing as if no one is listening, dance as if no one is watching, and love as if you have never been hurt."

I plan to live as long as I can. sing as long as my voice holds out, Dance in my living room until my knees don't work any more, and love ... well, as long as I don't hit Alan upside his head!!!!! lol

My Dr. put me on fish oil in 1981 smart family Dr. It has helped but like
Mel can only take so much and hmmm tummy...I would like to hear
anymore you have..The only bike i could get on now is a recumbent bike,
not sure if I could get off it,perhaps fall.ouch.. That's for you C.

There was just a thing on tv about what makes people live past 100. Of course genetics but also a low stress life style. I guess I'm doomed on the stress issue. Has anyone gotten there body age tested? Like what your bodies aging is vs your real age? I know its hard to really know but I saw it on Oprah. You know my outside looks so young but the inside is so old.Oy vey!

In my humble opinion, the only person who can't have any stress is Paris Hilton. Not only does she have her own money, but she has THE HILTON MONEY. And she has trusts funds. And she's young and beautiful.

So she has to run away from the flashbulbs!!!! That's stress???

Don't think so. I'd take her existence any time.

Can you imagine having all the money you need, your health, and a body to die for??

oh my god.

Paris Hilton would die if she had our stress.....

Sue---recumbents are looking better all the time, LOL....it is just, I bought a beautiful sky blue '4 figure bike' two years ago (what was I thinking??), and I have to get on it! I just have too. I did get aero bars so my numb hands don't figure in....using my elbows to steer. But alas, we shall see what happens...numb and weak below the knees lately, so that is not a good thing. Last summer I caused such a sore tail bone...I could relate to Silverlady...I had to have an MRI. I could not move for 3 weeks....I still can't figure out if the bike did that....it never did before...but then again that day, some hotshot guys passed me and I had to 'catch their wheel' and hang on for as long as the old bod would do it--(not long) (not)....hence 3 weeks in bed. Hubby told me I would regret it. Alas he is usually reasonable.

The cartoon Mel posted was sooooo appropriate.

Mel-the humor works for me....I emailed that clip to a ton of people....THAT was hysterical.....I wonder if it will make it thru my hubby's work email! If it does it will be all over....

I like to laugh. Nothing hurts when I laugh.

I'm finding it hard to find stuff to laugh about during this time of season, but I still do try!!!!

Today I saw something that I will go out and buy tomorrow. Have any of you seen the tv ad for Reynolds Handi-Vac???

It's a little gizmo that obliterates freezer burn.

First I went to the store and saw how much it was. $8.50 for the handi-vac unit and $3 bucks and change for a package of bags. Then I went home, went on Ebay and saw that it's up on Ebay for $19.99 plus $8.50 shipping and handling. Some prices were as high as $34.99.

So tomorrow I go back to the store and buy it.

Then I'll start to freeze all my turkey burgers, my chicken. EVERYTHING!!!!

What a nifty invention.

This is how to tell when a woman gets OLD!!!! She gets excited about Reynolds Handi-Vac stuff.

Oh My God. Shame on me!!!!!

http://discovermagazine.com/2007/dec...tart:int=2&-C=

No offense David, but what you left out was equally interesting, if not more provocative. Good article in it's entirety. - j

Mel, I've got a 'vac' thingie that I got over 20 years ago! You want it? Used it about 10-20 times and gave up on it...don't remember why, guess it was the intervention of freezer zip-loc bags- much easier. HUMMMM

????
I thought I had cut and pasted the entire article, less the pictures. I had read the article in the actual magazine, and didn't read it online again.

If I left something out, sorry. How upsetting. That's the first mistake I've made since 1962 (voting for Lyndon Johnson). That last sentence is the second mistake, and all in this one little thread.

As Mrsd explained, fish oil is initially very irritating to the stomach lining if your body has been deficient in the omega3 oils. After a week or two, the omega3 oils in the fish oil actually help the stomach to heal, so that your stomach no longer gets so easily upset. Less obviously, it also helps your body heal and deal with stress better.

We recently put down the last of our three large dogs at 16 years old. Like the two 17 yr. olds before her, she was active until a week before the end, and her coat looked great. We gave all the dogs one fish oil capsule in the A.M. and one in the P.M., along with glucosamine - condroytin - msm, and walked them for miles every day (ignoring my PN pain). They lived a long long time in almost perfect health until the very end.

Most of us on this board aren't as hairy as the dogs were, but would probably respond in a similar manner to a similar regimen.