CBS 60 Minutes segment on longevity

[Guest PasadenaCA]

Did anyone else watch that 60 Minutes segment on living to 90 and beyond? The results were really interesting. There seems to be a lot of data now to support moderate daily alcohol consumption. The data on Alzheimer's was also very interesting. I wasn't surprised that regular exercise was critical, but was intrigued at the suggestion that high blood pressure may mitigate micro stokes and concomitant brain damage.

Here's a link: http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/x87u7uqO8neSKeXvXQbc8CyJI2500IeG/living-to-90-and-beyond-part-one-/

[Guest PasadenaCA]

There is a second part to the segment; here's that link:

http://www.cbs.com/shows/60_minutes/video/UpjQdItVu2Lkn_n5zln9mGQw08eKjKL3/living-to-90-and-beyond-part-two-/

[RA1]

My FAA doctor told me a long time ago that "old" folks could withstand higher "G" forces than young folks because their arteries were harder which maintained the blood flow. I only paid slight attention to what he said for two reasons: one, I wasn't old at the time and two, I had little interest in becoming an aerobatic specialist. Seems as though he might be right.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest tomcal]

My Mother just celebrated her 97th birthday last week. She looks like she's 75 and is very active. She has had high blood pressure for at least the last 25+ years. The Only medication/pill she takes is for that. She has had her glass of vodka and tonic every night for years(and I do mean glass not shot!). She lives in a senior center but is independent except they provide the meals, she has her own private apartment. She plays either poker or blackjack every night because she says it keeps her mind sharp by having to figure out what cards to keep or throw based on the odds.

She was the oldest of 4 siblings but the 3 younger ones all died before they were 65! The only difference?.......

she was the only non smoker!

Now saying all this, when I asked her and her best friend there who is 100 and also very sharp, what they would change they both said "living this long"! They have outlived all their contempories/husbands/friends and their greatest fear is outliving their children(I am the youngest in my family but I wonder if she will outlive me...I didn't inherit her genes). Also while they overall health is good, their eyesight and hearing are almost always compromised by that age. most conversations start off with "remember when....." It is hard for them to understand the current technological enviorment since they were long retired before the advent of home computers.

every so often I go over there to deal cards when they have no one available for their evening games and I listen to them and afterwards say to myself "nope I don't want to live this long".

[RA1]

Good for her (and them). I have often wondered the same things that you have mentioned but I have decided to wait and see how things are going if I should live that long. Yes, human frailties are a pain and nuisance but there always seems to be alternate rewards or so I hope and think I perceive.

If your mom needs a fourth for bridge, let me know.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest PasadenaCA]

The one thing the didn't mention was low dose aspirin. I am trying to find out if they looked at this anti-inflammatory.

[RA1]

Aspirin seems to be like a lot of drugs, either prescription or OTC, in that there is no free lunch. It, like every thing else, has potential side effects. It acts as an anti-coagulant even in very small doses and therefore must be discontinued for any procedure, even a tooth extraction, to prevent unusual bleeding. Some people find that they have intestinal bleeding even with small doses.

The bottom line seems to be only take aspirin under the direction and supervision of your doctor.

Silly but true.

Best regards,

RA1

[Guest EXPAT]

This report shows "Leisure World" or now it's called Laguna Woods. That's only a few miles from me in Orange County. What they don't mention is that if they only looked at people from this location that everyone there are on the upper end of the income / savings scale. So by default they have better access to health care and doctors and food etc. That also has a huge impact on longevity too. There are many senior people living from social security check to social security check and that has it's own limitations.

[Guest CharliePS]

When my paternal grandfather died at 90, his older sisters lamented, "Poor Charlie! He died so young!" But I have watched several members of my family live to extreme old age, and all of them found their final years to be more of a burden than a joy (including those two sisters, who lived to 101 and 103). My mother somehow got it into her head that if she accepted living to 100, she would be allowed to die, and she was quite upset after her centennial birthday party when she discovered that she was expected to keep going. When she was 95, she confided to me that she would have been happiest if she could have died around 92. She had no particular medical problems other than macular degeneration, but she had lost all the activities she really enjoyed, as well as most of the people she cared about, so she had nothing to live for.

Unless I am in really good physical and mental shape, I don't want to live much beyond 80.

[Guest PasadenaCA]

Aspirin is quite the miracle drug: cheap to produce and indicated for an increasing number of ailments. If you're interested in the intersection of science and marketing, a great book to read is the "Aspirin Wars." It's out of print, but can be found on a number of retail sites.

[Guest PasadenaCA]

Well, I spoke too soon. I just looked on alibis.com and there it was.

http://www.alibris.com/booksearch?browse=0&keyword=Aspirin+wars&mtype=B&hs.x=0&hs.y=0&hs=Submit

Of course, it's on Amazon too.

http://www.amazon.com/Aspirin-Wars-Medicine-Rampant-Competition/dp/0394578945/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1399342918&sr=1-1&keywords=aspirin+wars