As someone who still works at the coalface of at least America in the South - I see each generation getting fatter than their parents, and the mental ability (probably due to poor diets, being numbed by technology, insulin resistance, smoking, etc) in my observation is worsening.
I do not think our medical technology will overwhelm this host of slow suicide individuals who do everything possible to worsen their health.
In affluent areas things are somewhat better, but I can say that of my physician colleagues, very few of their children are going to get to that status or earn/produce what their parents have.
So I’d be shocked if we move things up be just 2-3 years in the U.S. and it’ll be at a lot of expense. I guess job security for me.
But:
The findings may sound discouraging, but they could redefine the future of longevity research. Instead of just focusing on preventing disease, scientists may start targeting resilience loss itself.
Fields like biotechnology, regenerative medicine, and cellular reprogramming could offer new ways to slow down the loss of resilience—possibly pushing the human lifespan beyond the 150-year barrier.
Rural Americans – particularly men – are expected to live significantly shorter, less healthy lives than their urban counterparts, according to our research, recently published in the Journal of Rural Health.
We found that a 60-year-old man living in a rural area is expected on average to live two fewer years than an urban man. For women, the rural-urban gap is six months.
A key reason is worse rates among rural people for smoking, obesity and chronic conditions such as high blood pressure and heart disease. These conditions are condemning millions to disability and shortened lives.
What’s more, these same people live in areas where medical care is evaporating. Living in rural areas, with their relatively sparse populations, often means a shortage of doctors, longer travel distances for medical care and inadequate investments in public health, driven partly by declines in economic opportunities.
One counterintuitive factor in rural living is exposure to pollutants and toxins related to modern agriculture. Enviromental pollution is usually associated with cities, but the reality is that pesticides - herbicides, insecticides are at higher concentration in the air (f.ex. agriculture heavy Central Valley has the worst air quality in CA) and water, especially well water can be high in undesirable metals, arsenic and pollutants, whereas cities have the benefit of water purification in their systems. And counterintuitively, it can be harder to have access to a varied diet in rural settings, in larger urban areas you have fruits, vegetables and food choices flown from all over the world in all seasons, but a farm district with monocrops and industrial farming has less variety. These factors alone can be a disadvantage, and then you throw in access to high quality medical care, income levels, stimulating environment and, well, even more dedicated and traditional rural communities such as the Amish don’t necessarily beat any longevity records. That said “rural” is not a uniform environment - the blighted settings of industrial farming in parts of America are rather different from rural environments in Sardinia or Okinawa, and the conequent health differentials.
Good points.
I have typically thought of rural as a more healthy lifestyle; more outdoors activities, more walking, more nature, more sunshine, … and at some point it may be nice to live in a more rural environment, but you are also right that “rural” is not a uniform environment; living around Lake Tahoe or the central coast of California is not going to be the same living in Fresno.
I am waiting for bicep to chime in… lol.
These rural farmers work like rented mules… tough old birds… so they tend to go… and go. One day they just drop over… no where near 90 years… forget 100.
The rest are typically poorer… generational families in same area… lack of exercise… poor diet… bad lifestyle choices… drinking… drugs… poor dental care.
My neighbors.
Yearly hibernation helps you live longer?
This always gives me hope…
For females, the average 65-year-old can expect to live to 86 years old, and males can expect to live to 83. According to the CDC, as of 2019, a 65-year-old woman lived an average of an additional 20.8 years, and 65-year-old men lived an average of an additional 18.2 years.
So, if you can make it to 65, you’ll probably make 83 or 86 and not just 78.
http://claritywealthdevelopment.com/blog/what-is-the-average-life-expectancy-for-a-65-year-old/
And why Hong Kong is a longevity Mecca.
I can’t believe this topic isn’t dead. It just looks bad because of violence, accidents, suicide and overdoses.
Like many have mentioned, if you make it to advanced and you’re better off than in most other places.
No?
Life expectancy at age 25 is 80 years in the US. It’s 84+ in the United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Singapore, HK, Japan, etc.
Yes, if you make it to 65yo, your life expectancy is 85 years in the US. Still behind the above countries.
Source: Life expectancy for people of different ages - Our World in Data
That’s exactly what I said. Make it to 65 and you’ll live longer on average than most places.
Your link verifies this.
No, you’ll live shorter than the rest of the developed world. Unless you’re comparing the US to low income countries?
Yes, I’m looking at all countries, not a select few. I’d personally enjoy living in a lot of the places above and below the US more than living in the US. That’s why I left 25 years ago.
Where are you now? What county?
I’m living in Taipei, Taiwan now.
As life expectancy increase I wonder if people will start migrating to safer countries like Singapore to avoid being murdered or end up in a gang shootout. I’m thinking it will also be pertinent for the forensic and police system to be top notch as a deterrent.
With longer life expectancies we probably want to avoid injuries and dying from non-aging causes, so maybe people will be in storage somewhere with security, the original body being the ‘host’, and then an avatar body is the ‘guest’ connected with a neuralink type system to move about and regular activities, or the guest can be a simulation that humans like.
I mean anti-aging medicine doesn’t matter that much if you slip on a banana peel or get in a bus crash and lose the original body and consciousness.
The great thing about Hong Kong is that distances between places are short so speed limits are lower (50 km/h usually). At that speed, most accidents are fender benders and non-lethal unlike US highway accidents which tend to be fatal.
Also, No guns is a big plus. I do not fear walking the streets at any hour in any part of Hong Kong.
(Although I am wary of wild boars in rural areas).
Hong Kong is another safe place, some European countries and some U.S cities as well of course, it’s hard to know beforehand which one will be superior in the scenario I listed, and what new and emerging threats there would be to e.g host storage facilities.
The rise in human life expectancy has slowed down across Europe since 2011, according to research from the University of East Anglia and partners.
A new study, published in The Lancet Public Health, reveals that the food we eat, physical inactivity and obesity are largely to blame, as well as the COVID pandemic.
Of all the countries studied, England experienced the biggest slowdown in life expectancy.
It means that rather than looking forward to living longer than our parents or grandparents, we may find that we are dying sooner.
The team says that in order to extend our old age, we need to prioritize healthier lifestyles in our younger years—with governments urged to invest in bold public health initiatives.
None of it surprises me. I think the US is the first to go, but others won’t be far behind. China has more diabetes per capita than the USA, for example.
I think the US has a very ‘hard’ lifestyle more akin to a developing country. High stress and generally quite exploitative. People work really hard, often by necessity. Lots of drug culture, abuse and drug deaths. A brutal medical system which leaves a lot of people behind. Big suicide rates. Disproportional car accidents and vehicle-related fatalities.
And of course, the food. Totally anecdotal, but every time I visit the USA I reliably gain weight. Every time I leave, I reliably lose weight. And I swear I don’t take any deliberate action to binge eat or diet either way. The amount of processed food is crazy, and a lot of processes in the American diet are not even legal in other countries.
Do I think the E numbers or emulsifiers are poisonous? No. But, they do make food highly palatable, tasty, easy to eat quickly, and moreish. Food can be soft while also crunchy, sweet and/or salty in just the right amount, packed full of flavor, and is usually easy to gobble down, Think about eating a raw potato vs a plain baked potato vs a bucket of fries. American food is incredible once you learn to tolerate it. As a result, it disrupts your normal feedback mechanisms and we overeat, become accustomed to it, and continue doing it.
What’s wild is that the country spends a fortune fixing problems which are largely preventable. Huge corporations make money from the food system, which then makes people unhealthy, and then more huge corporations make money from selling drugs and medical care. And other mega corporations make money by advertising both the food and the treatments. It’s completely crazy.