Are you likely to live to 100 or more?

Covid was/is awful but I enjoyed lockdown. It was a rest from work for me for 4 months ,I was already over 70 and needed a break! I'm still at work and need to be (and have a boiler to finish paying for) very tired but in reasonable health. However after having blood tests, I was found to have stage 3 kidney disease, which didn't particularly surprise me.
I love my job but it's quite physically demanding so I might have to make some proper retirement plans sooner rather than later. I have to look into making diet and lifestyle changes, I want to be around as long as possible.

z - just 'a' (or!)

I listened to a program that claimed fidgeters live longer (me)
DD1 is a fidget, her aunt nicknamed her as a child Bridget the Fidget.

Having read that people with high cholesterol live longer (me)
I decided that was justification for having z chocolate biscuit with my cup of tea.

Having read that people with high cholesterol live longer (me)
I listened to a program that claimed fidgeters live longer (me)
An interesting conclusion came to me.
My partner and my closest friend have to seriously watch what they eat to keep the weight down.
Observing both of them neither of them are fidgeters.
My partner can sit for long periods without moving a muscle.
I wouldnt mind living to 100 if I’m as fit as I am now at 80.

FranP

Casdon

I don’t think I want to. My parents are 95 and 96, and both healthy by the standards of most people their age. However, their bodies have just worn out, and their world has got smaller so life is now hard for them.

Better their bodies than their minds, do you think? With computers nowadays, there is such a wider world.

I have friends all over the world due to the computer, I can keep in touch as they move, training course from a US university, new patterns from S Africa/US/NZ, money saving tips from Australia, and all you lovely ladies to "chat" to.

I converse regularly with a Tadpole leader in Taiwan, due to a worldwide thinking day exchange; and former colleagues in Manila, and school friends in France and Spain. All without leaving my sofa

Yes, I do agree - but unfortunately one of the hard things about very old age is failing eyesight and hearing. My Mum is now registered blind, and my Dad can’t hear very well at all, so their ability to do the things they used to is much diminished.

I wish there was a ‘like’ button on gransnet: I haven’t much to add but agree with most of these comments.

I certainly watch my mind carefully - with both my parents having had dementia. I should be okay #fingerscrossed - as I feel pretty certain my fathers mind would have remained his own (ie logical/very intelligent/etc) right until the end if he hadnt spent hours under general anaesthetic having a heart bypass operation by the NHS. Having been told they do a heart bypass differently if it's done in the private sector (ie the NHS technically speaking kills them and then brings them back - but the private sector way doesn't do it like that) I do wonder - and the daft thing is my parents could have afforded to have it done the private way - though I'm afraid I wouldnt put it past my mother to have said they couldnt afford it and stopped that (as she was the one that managed the money and made a lot of the decisions).

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed all will be well in that respect - as I've not got quite the same level of intelligence he had - but I'm a lot nearer to him than to my mother in that level and my mind basically works along logical thinking lines (like his did) - so fingers crossed and it will be okay.

I've taken the precaution of telling everyone I know to let me know if they see my mind "slipping" - whilst there's still time/ability to stop that in its tracks (they know how I would). I have to trust someone would care enough to let me know if they saw it "slipping". Meanwhile I watch it and monitor to see if I think it's being more absent-minded than it used to be or the like - so I can catch it in time if it plays up. If it forgets something it shouldnt I analyse whether I think that's "just one of those things" or it's getting worse.

Casdon

I don’t think I want to. My parents are 95 and 96, and both healthy by the standards of most people their age. However, their bodies have just worn out, and their world has got smaller so life is now hard for them.

Better their bodies than their minds, do you think? With computers nowadays, there is such a wider world.

I have friends all over the world due to the computer, I can keep in touch as they move, training course from a US university, new patterns from S Africa/US/NZ, money saving tips from Australia, and all you lovely ladies to "chat" to.

I converse regularly with a Tadpole leader in Taiwan, due to a worldwide thinking day exchange; and former colleagues in Manila, and school friends in France and Spain. All without leaving my sofa

Trying to recall the name of it - but it's the thing whereby people literally won't look at themselves that I have now (insert - body dysmorphia - just remembered).

That's had its inconveniences over recent years - as I've had that for years now. My hairdresser knows that I started off with him by putting on big sunglasses before inspecting his work in the mirror - and now I tell him what I want and just have to trust him and positive comments afterwards that it looks okay - as I refuse to look in the mirror there.

Opticians know too that I virtually leap out of their chair when being examined if I can see myself in their mirror - cue for telling yesterday's eyetest optician several times to adjust things so I couldnt see in the mirror.

It's the stark light in places like that too that is a problem - as it makes things look worse.

Group photos are "fun" too - as I dive out of sight at the back.

I don't understand why other people don't seem to understand - as I expect that at least some other people will feel the same about their body.

Yet I see all these group photos in the local paper and it's obvious no-one gives a darn what they look like - as they smile confidently at the camera.

There's the odd rueful comment from other women complaining about what's happened to their body over the years. My mother was pretty - but she hated her nose and come frailty she got in old age and I knew what she was like and so offered to buy her the "most attractive, elegant, obviously expensive" walking stick I could find if she'd actually use it - she refused. Turns out she already had one - but it stayed resolutely in the cupboard.

Actually quite envious of people who think "Well as long as I'm clean and tidy...."...and peer in mirrors without avoiding action or even wincing.

So how do people cope even with just losing any level of looks they had?.To be honest, I never had what you'd call good looks, and my looks at the moment would scare the dogs in the street.

I don't think I will make it to 100. Possibly not even to 80. My kidneys are shot and I have other conditions that I am fairly sure will see me off in the next few years.
It doesn't upset me for myself, but I suffer agonies about what it will do to my near family.

UTBB You look just like my kind of friend. Keep up the good work. I’m 74 and intend to go out having a good time.

WithNobsOnIt

Would love to. But l would a new body first.

Maybe l could sell my soul to a robot and live forever?

I can follow your logic on that - a deteriorating body is a big minus of getting older for sure.

But what about living in a deteriorating society?

Even if one could replace one's body with an absolutely perfectly functioning one and good-looking and and and everything one could want from a body. On top of that a generous and guaranteed in all respects income coming in. Well that would be the personal aspects dealt with and a lot of worries out of the way.

But - what about Society? Society is still expletive deleted awful and it's getting worse. I know that - if we look for the news (rather than just what we get served up in mainstream newspapers etc) we can be one heck of a better informed than people back in, say, the 1980s. But - even giving that = the news is actually worse/way worse than it was in the 1980s and "life as normal" has had a series of hammerblows in recent years. Bar being able to put that clock back to the 1980s (when it certainly wasnt perfect - but it was one heck of a sight better and easier than now) then what? Would one even want perfect body/perfect money and living in the 1980s again for long?

But given we are in times that are way worse and it's still shooting downhill and getting even worse = why would anyone want to live any longer?

I'm all too conscious my own lifespan has taken in 2020 onwards to date and is projected to go past 2030 and all that and that is a very scary thought. Would anyone really want to live through all that by choice?

Would love to. But l would a new body first.

Maybe l could sell my soul to a robot and live forever?

Thanks for this post, Elegran, and the link to the article - and your comment AskAlice that has raised my spirits considerably. My mother's side lived long lives with no serious illnesses whereas my father had a sudden death in his early 50s as did his mother and at least 7 others in that family line. Two years ago I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and reluctantly agreed to statins that have brought it down to 'normal' levels. The NICE data indicated a 28% chance of a stroke or heart attack for me within 10 years based on research statistics. The online NHS predictor put my heart age in the upper 90s and death likely aged 84 (I'm 77). I'm fit and active, walk a lot, eat all the right foods, at the bottom of my weight range and my regular BP readings average out around 130/80 - I do isometric exercises regularly.

How does everyone cope with the loss of looks too?
😁

What you never had, you don't miss!!

How does everyone cope with the loss of looks too?

I was never beautiful or pretty (darn it!) - but I did learn how to be attractive (what hairdresser to go to, what clothes to wear, etc to make the best of things). My figure made up for a lot of other defects. Am still hoping to get my figure back to normal - but the nice big eyes don't seem to be the case any longer/hair worse/skin worse - and I run a million miles at the thought of looking in a mirror these days.

So how do people cope even with just losing any level of looks they had? That's before we get onto health problems...

Even for minor type health problems = agh! I've just dropped down the list of health issues to the next one in line (having finally said goodbye to a foot issue). It took over a year, hundreds of £s and a LOT of determination to get something as minor as that resolved = though I beat it in the end. So now onto the next item on list and I hope that's not going to take as much determination and money to get rid of. I've learnt a couple of how-to lessons from that health issue - check a health professionals website with a fine toothcomb (as, if they're useless, there will be a clue or two there), check they speak perfect English (so they don't get into a row with you because they didnt understand a word in common usage in their profession that they should have understood).

So how anyone copes mentally and/or financially with major health issues = they must be "stronger" than me (and I'm regarded as a fighter) to fight back against that level of health problem.

My dad died age 94 was born with spina bifida, died of prostate cancer but was still with it mentally. My mother died age 97 having beaten Covid, her death certificate stated she died of old age and frailty but she was as sharp as a tack right to the end. She always said she would never go into a care home and she died at home with me in attendance. I’m afraid at 73 I have too many health problems to reach her great age. Bad circulation and varicose veins and I had a pulmonary embolism when I was 33 so scarred lungs. Not sure I would want to be 100 unless I was healthy.

The idea of living for another 20 odd years fills me with horror. Although my life is physically very full, my emotional life is on empty.
I’m likely to live for ever, judging by my parents who died in their mid-90s, both demented. Ugh!
No, not for me, thank you.

I am a whisper away from 75. My DD will be 52 at Christmas. She takes care of her self but age is inevitably starting to make itself visible. I adore my lively, sparkly daughter and I really do not want to live to see her get old.

nanna8

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.

That’s scary for you - but you did make me laugh.

Good for you Aggie! 👍

Agree about fat for brain

Since cholesterol is normal and everyone has it......who decided when it's too high. I take no notice of it and fat is essential for the brain.

Birthday month! ( blooming autocorrect)