pull down to refresh
I know what you mean
My grandmother didn't work out or lift weights, no yoga or pilates, her doctors were average, her health insurance was average
She outlived all her son in laws including my dad
A childhood friend died last Sunday from liver failure, age 50
In October, another friend died suddenly from a heart attack, age 65. He was a competitive swimmer and used to run marathons sub 3 hours
One time when I was in UK I walked thru a cemetery that had been active from 1600s to early 1900s - there were lots and lots of children (0-2 years), but many of the adults seemed to live to ~80 years.
It seems like if you just roughly computed an average age of death of everyone in cemetery you might get 40-50 years, but if you filtered out childhood deaths suddenly average would rise to 70-80.
I suspect the "gains in life expectancy" is mainly concentrated around improving birth safety and childhood health. But for grown adults, not sure how much modern medicine truly adds to their lifespan.....I'm sure its some but not that dramatic.
Infant mortality for sure which are correlated with life expectancy and literacy rates
The other question is: How much of childhood health has been improved simply by nutritional gains? If 50% of childhood deaths have been reduced by farmers, not doctors, then this puts "medicine" into further question.....
To be clear, I have nuanced views of "modern medicine". I think for fixing things like broken bones, torn cartilage, etc -- medicine has made incredible gains. But for fundamental questions of "human health" I'm not so sure....
I agree
Today, people are living longer because of drugs that 'manage' obesity and diabetes.
Childhood obesity and diabetes are also a problem.
Another disturbing trend is girls getting periods at age 10 instead of 13. This happened to my cousin's daughter a dozen years ago.
Heather Locklear was speaking to Adam Carolla a few weeks ago and she said that she didn't get her period until age 16. Heather was born in 1962 or 63.
The reason I am skeptical of 'modern medicine' today is that recent medical school grads are less competent. For my primary doctor, I have 3 requirements: male, at least 30 years experience and no Caribbean medical school lol
My great grandfather did too. I think all the advances in modern medicine will prevent any of us from living that long😀