Does anyone actually know of anyone who had an unhealthy lifestyle but lived to a ripe old age?

silverlining48

I was never much of a smoker but I did start early and stopped mid 70 s when pregnant. Started it again until second pregnancy and then gave up for good. Hate it now.
Would have given my two hell if they had smoked but they and their partners don’t. In fact I don’t know anyone who does smoke.

I had to read that twice, silverlining48. T
The first time I read it, I thought you had given up smoking in your mid 70's, which made the being pregnant part incredible 😂

I knew an old lady who live to 101.
She smoked all her adult life, and enjoyed a daily sherry. She had an accident in her 90s resulting in her having a below the knee amputation. It didn't stop her enjoying life.

I know some people don't like the phrase 'positive thinking' and I can see it might come over as a kind of Pollyanna idea, but actually there is now a lot of evidence for the health benefits of it. It does not mean pretending there are no difficult things in our lives - you can be positive and also have common sense and accept what is real - but still look for the up side of things. Maybe easier to think of it as optimism - choosing to focus on what is good and to be grateful for, with feet still on the ground.

Winston Churchill. Lived to the age of 90, despite being overweight, a cigar smoker and a heavy drinker.

Our nextdoor neighbour. Drinks 4-5 pints of beer minimum virtually everyday. Plus he eats bacon butties, beefburgers etc- basically a very unhealthy diet. He'll have at least 3 beefburgers watching a local rugby match. He weighs about 25stone or more. According to him the doctor says there's nothing wrong with him.

Yes my dad. Currently 95. Never smoked cigarettes but was heavily into cigars - thankfully not any more. Gets through a litre of whisky every week plus lunchtime sherry. Dreadful diet; is actually putting on weight at 95 thanks to crisps/biscuits/nuts etc - the aperitifs before a meal. There’s no point in trying to change anything as he’s got this far, but he rings me in the evenings sounding very befuddled and I’m more worried about him falling after a couple of large whiskies that I am about his liver!

Perhaps you could persuade him to have his one three as a hot toddy, in bed, Sue.

My godfather was a GP and smoked 60 a day, originally untipped, and was an enthusiastic drinker. His diet wasn't exactly healthy either but he lived into his mid-80s.

My maternal grandmother lived until she was 102, had smoked 60 cigarettes a day for most of her adult life, worked in a mill from the age of 12, brought up not only her own three children .. but two of her grandchildren too - and eaten everything that we are told we should avoid. My mother, never smoked, didn’t drink alcohol and died unexpectedly at the age of 68!

Well Iv heard these terms like 'something gets you in the end', it's a lottery etc. It is I guess as none of us know exactly what's going on inside
I believe stress can be the tip of iceberg before anything else. And we each different to some degree, It can seem the ones that don't bother about advice etc can do very well by just following their likes
🤔 maybe the bp and Colestral numbers aren't the B all afterall 😊

Well, there are a number of famous people such as Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Ringo Starr who are in their early eighties. I don't think they had a healthy lifestyle when they were younger.

No.
And for the one in every hundred that bucks the trend 99 don't, and die prematurely whether it be lung cancer, organ failure or heart attack .
The majority of us never really know how our cards are marked in terms of good or bad genes, but we can control excessive intake of nicotine, alcohol or calories if we want to reduce the risk of premature death, but there are no absolute guarantees in life..

My MIL. she’s 89. Eats an awful diet. Cakes biscuits crisps sweets. etc. no fruit or veg ever. She’s got out of bed for the last 20years gone to the front room and sat there all day watching TV. Never goes out. No exercise. Over weight. But healthy and always has been.

Seajaye

No.
And for the one in every hundred that bucks the trend 99 don't, and die prematurely whether it be lung cancer, organ failure or heart attack .
The majority of us never really know how our cards are marked in terms of good or bad genes, but we can control excessive intake of nicotine, alcohol or calories if we want to reduce the risk of premature death, but there are no absolute guarantees in life..

And for the one in every hundred that bucks the trend 99 don't, and die prematurely

No, 99 people out of 100 do not die prematurely.

My grandad, smoked heavily all his life, liked a pint, ate a unhealthy diet (pie and chips, sausages, bacon etc)and lived into his 80's in good health

And there's me thinking 80s is not really old 😯

My mother is almost 95. She lives alone in a house that is too big for her and won't move into a more suitable place. Makes most of her own meals ( a few are made by family but she is picky so I don't know how much of it she throws away.) She makes herself porridge with cream for breakfast with a mug of sherry.

I like her style!

My MIL had clotted cream every day but only made it to 87.
She never ate fruit.

Yes. My Mum - smoked into her late seventies. Sedentary lifestyle - lived to 89.
My partners aunt - smoked like a chimney into her 80’s. Heavy wine and gin drinker - now 92!
My beloved Grandfather. Pipe smoker through life. Sedentary in later life - lived to 92.
It’s all in the genes!

Sorry! A second comment.
Does everyone want to live into their 90’s?
Do you? Not I thank you!

My mum smoked for 75 years and died at the age of 91 from old age, never had any smoking related illness. Her diet consisted of every sweet thing known to mankind and three spoons of sugar in her tea, drinking 8 cups a day. She also loved bread and dripping, bacon, sausages and fried food in general. She was always slim and active.

I have had asthma all my life. Almost all adults smoked in the sixties and seventies and I am sure that l was very much affected by passive smoking. Interestingly, it is becoming more and more recognised that the low fat diet that has been pushed on us for the past forty years is nowhere near as scientifically sound as we have been led to believe. Low fat margarine, for example, has no end of chemicals that turn into carbohydrates, aka sugars. Also all those chemicals cannot be good for us. The list of ingredients on these products is terrifying. Butter has one ingredient - milk - and two if a little salt is added. I have goats' butter as it helps my allergies. It tastes so much better, too.

My paternal Grandmother smoked 40 cigarettes a day, plus sherry and a pint of beer; took no exercise and was overweight. She lived till she was 87. As did her mother, my great grandmother, who was slim, lithe and active, didn’t smoke….

Babamaman An inspiring story!👍

I smoked for 40 years and didn’t have a particularly good diet until my middle years. I am 80 years old and although I have health issues I very rarely see a doctor. I walked 7 miles one day last week with no problems. I do feel very lucky.