Do we live too long?

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  Posted by D C Thu Jul 9, 2009 4:46pm PDT

  We are living past our expiration date, you hit the nail on the head. My mom is 90 and the only time she leaves her building is to go to the doctor. Mom was really healthy until around age 85 and now all she does is complain. She just can't believe her knees hurt and that she has medical problems. So no matter how long you enjoy good health, it's not much comfort when its gone. Almost everyone spends the last few months or years of their life suffering. Its like God plays a trick on us and yet we think we are condemned to hell if we no longer want to play the game. I don't have any of the answers, but I hope I don't live past 80.

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  Posted by Ryan Thu Jul 9, 2009 4:55pm PDT

  I wanna live to a healthy 70 or so, then croak...that's a good, long life. Time enough to see your grand-kids grow up, and do a little fishin'.

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  Posted by Cecilia B. Thu Jul 9, 2009 5:18pm PDT

  My best friend's aunt is 104 years old and the last time we spoke (they live in Brasil), the lady has been bedridden for the last 2 years, wears a diaper 24-7, does not recognize anyone anymore, has to be spoon-fed, and bathed twice a day most of the time because she constantly soils herself.

  My friend adores her aunt, who helped her mother raise her and her sibblings, but she confesses that she cannot wait for her aunt to go. My friend is spending a lot of money with caretakers and cannot even plan a weekend away for her aunt demands her presence at all times and gets extremely agitated when she is not around, scaring the caretakers. My friend even has a hard time getting out of the house to go shopping or to a dentist appointment.

  I believe it is time for this lady to leave the Planet Earth. I remember her well from way back when and I assure you that, if she has any mind left at all, she is extremely humiliated for this loss of dignity.

  Thank you.

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  Posted by D C Thu Jul 9, 2009 6:52pm PDT

  It hasn't got anything to do with liberal or conservative. Ronald Reagan checked out mentally long before he physically expired, meanwhile I'm sure he continued to have the best medical care available. I'm not saying people with medical or mental issues should be euthanized, of course not. What I am saying is after a certain age and/or deterioration is it in our best interests to continue to take all kinds of medical tests and other interventions in order to keep us alive? People should be informed of their right to voluntarily decline any such measures. Letting nature take its course is not a sin.

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  Posted by __A_YAHOO_USER__ Thu Jul 9, 2009 7:23pm PDT

  Hmmm... sounds like Charles Dickens in a vague sort of way... "decrease the surplus population"; the reality is, that just because "we can" do certain things doesn't necessarily mean that we do. It's also true that only 2% of our 18% of population over 65 lives in nursing facilities or in ways that require extraordinary means. This argument could aslo be applied to infants with extreme healthcare needs... if it's your kid would you deny a necessary service? It's not an easy issue, but it's not exactly honest to post it in ageism contexts.

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  Posted by griffgirl82 Thu Jul 9, 2009 8:41pm PDT

  Angelina mentioned that she worked in a nursing facility and saw so many different aspects with patients and caregivers. I, too, worked in a nursing facility for a time. I believe it takes a truly special person to do that job. Bless you Angelina. I personally couldn't handle it anymore. I wanted to be there for the patients and treat them like people, not numbers. After a gentleman that I had become close to passed away I didn't last much longer. It broke my heart to see so many people wither away physically and mentally. My great grandmother lived to 95 still driving her car to church every Sunday, but when she fell and broke her hip my moms cousins put her in a nursing home. She died within the year because she was so miserable. When my other great-grandma got sick, I begged my grandma not to put her in a home. She complied and Granny recovered fairly well. She actually outlived my grandpa (her son) by another year and her husband died a year after that. I think she died of a broken heart. No one should outlive their children.

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  Posted by Ty Thu Jul 9, 2009 8:56pm PDT

  In broad terms, yes -- we are living too long. Our economic infrastructure is woefully inadequate to handle this reality, and the deep recession has driven this point home for millions of older Americans who find themselves out of work, without sufficient retirement savings, facing staggering healthcare costs, and virtually unemployable because (let's be honest) most companies are reluctant to hire seniors when they can get younger and cheaper candidates.

  When Social Security was first created, the average life expectancy was less than 70 years. The Federal government expected that retirees would collect benefits for 5-8 years and then die. Today, the average life expectancy is closer to 80. Americans are living longer, but their savings are not keeping up. Consequently, more and more seniors are slipping into poverty and debt. Many 'retirees' in their 60's, 70's and 80's are working low-paying service jobs just to survive, so at the end of the day, there's not much 'living' left in their lives.

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  Posted by laderooni Thu Jul 9, 2009 9:23pm PDT

  These are common misconceptions about Life Extension. The ideal goal is simple and practical. It's called "Squaring the Curve:' - maintaining an active and quality lifestyle until the very end. This goal will reduce health costs and let older people be able to still contribute throughout their lives.

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  Posted by griffgirl82 Thu Jul 9, 2009 9:34pm PDT

  I don't believe the point of this blog was that we should "kill off" anyone over a certain age. I think the point was more about "Are we (as a society)allowing our selfishness, and fear of death determine how we "care for" ourselves and our families. It's not that people in general are "living too long". It's that people are being made to exist beyond the point that their bodies have given out. I don't believe in evolution or Darwinism, however, there is a certain logic to survival of the fittest. For example, if a pregnant woman miscarries, it is more often than not a result of that fetus not being able to sustain life at a high enough quality to live outside the womb. That's Gods way of ensuring the human race can continue. That's not to say that things don't happen after birth. My sister was born at 28 weeks. She had a 20% chance of survival(this was 25 years ago)She was breathing without assistance, survived the night with nothing more than my mother being there. After unnecessary medical interventions and doctors trying to tell my mom theres no way she can be healthy she's too small, she died. The reason. They tried to claim she had cystic fibrosis (she had a milk allergy)wouldn't let my mom nurse, so she wasn't getting colostrum, the marconium created a blockage in her intestine, when they went to do surgery they collapsed her lung and put her on an unsterilized(contaminated) respirator. She was born a perfect little miracle, had one beautiful night of life, and then was tortured for the next 2 months to death. At that point my parents prayed God would take her because her quality of life would have been unbearable.

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  Posted by AmyH Fri Jul 10, 2009 7:30am PDT

  Yes, when qualified under the veil of artificially extending that which could not live without medical intervention. I too, would rather be able to participate in life, than live in a nursing home with nothing to do and no loved ones around, and plenty of drugs and people to change my underwear. For heaven's sake, what's that about?

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