Are you likely to live to 100 or more?

UTBB- you're an inspiration. I hope to be drinking cocktails, looking good, and enjoying life at your age - I do share your birthday monthly, so here's hoping ( currently seventy three).

I’ve raised 6 children and I can assure you I am no shrinking violet
My sister was in a care home after she broke her pelvis , she has lots of odd dietary requirements and made her needs known firmly without being awkward , a “ look “ at any sign of sighing or eye rolling worked

Though goodness knows right at this exact moment the stubborn neighbour with dementia has acted up again in a way that affects the rest of us here - even though she's had a relative staying overnight....and I'd love for her to go off into a home after rudeness yesterday, mess today.

aggie

I’m 88, I live next door to my eldest daughter, I can load the washer and hang out the washing , I have a cleaning lady one session a week , I prepare my own meals , I’ve no intention of moving to a care home
But !! If I did have to be incarcerated , why on earth would I go out of my way to be curmudgeonly ! ,
I’m no one’s mat but I do think being pleasant helps oil the wheels

Unfortunately Aggie it's often the case that "being pleasant" gets translated into "getting walked over/being a doormat/being made to fit into someone else's ideas regardless".

It's easy to see that, for instance, questioning one's breakfast that was given would probably result in a "Duh!" look on someone's face - as they didn't know/didn't care exactly what went into it. Or they were more intelligent than that - but ground down by the boss into "We do things THIS way - blow what the customer wants". One comes across so much of it and I reckon many carehomes would act the same. It would be "Yes I know you might be used to having a healthy breakfast of your choice - but what WE do is x. Tough". Followed by me saying "You are paid x hundred £s per week for each of us. So yes - I have noticed the porridge is sludge from a packet, it's bread spread instead of butter, instant coffee instead of real coffee. Can you please provide me with x/y/z that I myself have?" and I could see the day going downhill from there. I'm someone that would make a careful diary of events/find out who to complain to/etc.

Being pleasant if one can be is obviously the way to go - but for those of us who aren't getting what we're paying for and are questioners.....sometimes we do have to question/question again and ultimately say "I'm not putting up with this - I'm paying for better than this".

I never in a million years thought I'd live to this age (76). I've followed my mother in a lot of ways so I assumed I would die at the age she did (58). She had a horrible life. My life has been quite difficult and I'm not sure I want to go through another 20 odd years of it.

I’m 88, I live next door to my eldest daughter, I can load the washer and hang out the washing , I have a cleaning lady one session a week , I prepare my own meals , I’ve no intention of moving to a care home
But !! If I did have to be incarcerated , why on earth would I go out of my way to be curmudgeonly ! ,
I’m no one’s mat but I do think being pleasant helps oil the wheels

Both my parents lived well into their 90s. My father was ailing from about 70 but seemed to pull through everything thrown at him after giving up smoking. Not sure that I will get that far as I feel care worn from working full time and caring for everyone else in the family. It has taken its toll but I do try to eat well, sleep well, and avoid difficult people and situations. All grandparents who came through WW1 & 2 lived to late 70s and early 80s.

Romola

I just hope the assisted dying bill gets past the Lords. Some of them are being obstructive, mainly showing off their legalistic prowess. (The bishops, I get it, they have to object I suppose.)
I am stupidly healthy at 80, apart from having lost a lot of teeth. But having enjoyed most of the wonderful things life offers, protracted old age holds no attraction for me.

I quite agree. Her on the Isle of Man it looks likely we will get it before the UK and I will be very relieved.

cocopops I do wish we had something like that MAIDS here in GB. I am 84 now and am feeling that I really do not wish to go on for many more years. Surely, as a reasonably intelligent human being, I should have the right to decide how , where and when I die. I really dread going into my 90's with increasing physical incapacities and maybe declining mental health, and becoming a total burden on my children, etc.

David49

I hope not, but I will keep going while I enjoy life, maybe another 10 yrs I don’t intend to hang around being a burden.

Yes, I quite agree. I know I won't make 100 unless they have some miracle treatment for lung disease pop up. I too do not intend to hang around when I am not enjoying a reasonable quality of life with no hope of improvement.

Apologies Grantanow I see you have already pointed this out (more fully).

Sorry

CocoPops

I liked the conclusion that stated "those with higher levels of total cholesterol" lived to be 100!

If you read the paper, the amendment says this is not quite the case.

Sorry!

Me - I know for a fact personally I won't be reaching 100 - or even 90 - as I know how to make sure of it.

Anyone who tries to make others follow stupid rules and regulations not designed for our personal benefit can heave a sigh of relief right now LOL. I laugh myself at the thought of anyone trying (and failing) to make me follow any nursing home's routine or similar situation. I could write a comedy sketch about how I will always have the meals I decide I will at the times I decide I will, generally follow my own routine - and there'd be a head-on clash with any carehome that thought otherwise. It would start with "I'm not having my breakfast at x time", followed by "Why is the porridge not organic? Why is the bread not artisan and with butter/not bread spread? Why is the coffee not real?" and that would be the start of the day and it would go on from there. As for if another Lockdown got imposed and/or they wanted to impose anything medical on me = they'd probably be driving me out to Dartmoor and dumping me there themselves LOL.

Life would be ** for anyone trying to make me live it their way LOL. Add that I don't suffer illness lightly - and even a minor thing has me "like a dog with a bone" until it's gone/getting thoroughly annoyed at my body for doing that etc.

I'll save myself (and everyone else) the trouble if I think my life has got too bad to bear ...

My mother’s family were generally long lived (she used to say ‘good stock!) - IIRC only one of my maternal GM’s 9 siblings didn’t make it well into their 80s.
My own mother went on to 97, but had dementia for around the last 15 years.

On the other side, a GGF went on into his 90s, no dementia, and paternal GM into late 80s, also still with marbles.

OTOH my DF died at 72, bloody bowel cancer.

67notout

I really wouldn’t want to. We had our two children in our teens and they’re approaching their 60s now. I don’t want to mess up their hard earned retirement.

Aw! That's being very thoughtful of you.

My lot all seem to go at 85. I do ancestry research and it applies to both my mother and father’s side. When and if I am 85 , I’ll be cacking myself.

Above me in the family…1 aunt of 99 and another of 93. My parents died both aged 75. What are the odds I ‘ll see my 90s? Don’t think I want that .

My mother was in her nineties when she died but was incapacitated. It's the quality of life which matters so if I lose my independence I shall be glad to go.

Primrose53

CocoPops

I liked the conclusion that stated "those with higher levels of total cholesterol" lived to be 100!

I can’t open the link but am interested in the high cholesterol comment.

I think there’s a lot in this actually. A nurse at our surgery was due to retire after working for decades there. She told me since they started inviting patients in to have their cholesterol checked she had met countless people she had never met in her working life. They had not been to the surgery as they were so fit and healthy in their 80s and 90s!

However, their cholesterol readings were then classified as “high”. She said that this happened over and over again. They were nearly all put on statins. She also told me that over the years the goalposts kept moving and the figure for HC came down and down so more people were being classed as Having HC.

They issued a correction to the original paper which stated 'In our manuscript, part of the interpretation of Figure 2 is based on an earlier version of the Figure that had the lowest quintile as the reference. During the review process, the reference point was changed to the middle category. This changed some of the interpretations, for example, the statement “Higher levels of total cholesterol was associated with increased odds of reaching 100 years” should rather be “low cholesterol was associated with a reduced likelihood of reaching the age of 100”. Having high cholesterol neither increases nor decreases the probability of living to 100 years of age.'

Romola . My close friend Sheila, aged 84 opted for Medical Assistance in Dying, known as M.A.I.D. here in Canada. She had become very frail and said, "I can no longer look after myself CocoPops. I want MAID". She was tired out and had lost her independence. Sheila had always said she would not to go into a home and had been seriously thinking about MAID for 3 months. Her lovely son was with her when it was carried out. A shock but I believe she made the right decision for her.

I really wouldn’t want to. We had our two children in our teens and they’re approaching their 60s now. I don’t want to mess up their hard earned retirement.

I just hope the assisted dying bill gets past the Lords. Some of them are being obstructive, mainly showing off their legalistic prowess. (The bishops, I get it, they have to object I suppose.)
I am stupidly healthy at 80, apart from having lost a lot of teeth. But having enjoyed most of the wonderful things life offers, protracted old age holds no attraction for me.

Both Covid on the one hand and Lockdown on the other hand had an impact.

It doesn't sound coincidental to me that you came down ill the day after your father died - sounds all too likely there's a link between those two events. A combination of grief, stress, being worn out caring for him - the whole shebang.

What's happening in our lives can certainly affect our health - probably a lot of us have been there.

I used to notice with friends that were teachers that they would often come down ill when, say, the long summer school holiday started. They and I all thought it was probably a sort of "lid taken off the pressure cooker" sorta thing. They kept going as long as they had to - and then whoomph.

Cariad
I think that Covid has had a huge impact on society in general .
I don't think that my declining health was caused by it though .
My father passed away two years ago from sepsis .
The next day I had a flu then continual chest infections .
It had a negative effect on my mobility .
I don't know why it happened .
Some people think that it was grief and others that I was simply worn out looking after him .
Or both .
I'll never really know .
Certainly I don't like the way things are now. And I wonder what the future holds .

I mean in different ways to you, CariadAgain.

Lack of exercise, lockdowns causing isolation, no school which was damaging for children with ongoing problems for many of them.