Thats what my doctor told me too
I've got a nice lucky dip bag too Heart attack, Cancer, Dementia and a Stroke.... I think i'll opt for the heart attack please
I think for 99% of the general public (unless they've got an inherited condition, which you'd know about) the doctors will only end up giving everyone the same advice in the end anyway...
Don't smoke!
Exercise regularly.
Eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
Cut down on Saturated fats, Salt and sugar
Stay within your recommended BMI.
Try to keep stress to the minimum.
Have your blood pressure checked regularly.
What else would they say
MODERATOR AT YOUR SERVICE
"If you're going to do something tonight, that you know you'll be sorry for in the morning, plan a lie in." Lorraine
I think that if you have a condition that will/may affect your lifestyle then it's better to know (ie something that won't kill you but that may affect you, even if it's only slight) and get help for it as an when you need it.
If it's something that you're going to die from I'd rather not know in advance of contracting it.
But in the USA now, there is the "obesity paradox" whereby overweight men with heart conditions have a longer life expectancy than the apparently healthy. It's thought to be due to the fact that their doctor's monitor them more closely.
I wouldn't exactly be feeling the pinch if I forked out for a test, but there's a lot more I'd rather be spending the money on, alcohol for instance. (Only to be drunk one glass a day of course!) Or even better, dancing.
If you have family that have died young, and the conditions are hereditary, fair enough, you might want to be aware so as to be able to take precautions & monitor your health, but most of us shouldn't be bothering.
Oh, and my family is testament to the fact that falling off a cliff can be a hereditary condition...
Greg
And you clearly didn't read my post properly, just that sentence.
I said that it would be a different matter if I was fit and healthy, and could lead an active and fulfilling life. If that was the case, yeah, give me a few more years. But if I ended in a nursing home unable to do anything, I'd rather die.
As for family, I'm unmarried and don't have any children, and seriously doubt if I ever will. As for the rest of my family, I hate about half of them.
Even if I did end up having kids and grandkids, I seriously doubt if they'd enjoy visits to a knackered old granny who couldn't do anything/lived in a nursing home. And I'm not sure the occasional visit from grandchildren would be enough to make me want to keep living, if I spent the rest of my life bedbound or in a wheelchair, depending on nurses to feed me, wash me and take care of me.
Great. So, I'll probably die when I'm between about 50-70, and can choose from cancer, heart attack or stroke. Fantastic.
I think all I can really do is try to lead a relatively active and healthy life, and just hope for the best. No point in worrying about when I'm going to die. Who knows, I might pop my clogs tomorrow, for all I know!
More than one? Really?
Well, in my family there's been a few attempted and actual suicides, so there's another option for me!
Oh Little Monkey, your grandchildren and children ,or who ever is in your life when you grow old, neices, nephews, children of friends,friends relatives etc wouldn't see a knackered old lady being dependent on people.
They would see the lady that gave them lots of good times,loads of laughs and lots of love and encouragement in their life,taught them to dance even and not take themselves too seriously, and love you so much that they would help the nurses to take care of you.
You wouldn't be a burden because they would think it was their time to give back what you gave them and do it without conditions, just like the way you accepted them unconditionally. Regardless of the amount of times they could visit, they would come when they could because that would be the time they had put aside just for you. x
Last edited by rubyred; 2nd-July-2007 at 08:57 PM. Reason: just had something else to add
That's a very rosy view of life, I wish I shared it. But in reality I've seen people who've been fantastic parents, then they get old and either have to rely on their children for help, or go into nursing homes, and very often the family will either hardly spend time with them, or will become bitter and resentful because you're burdening them.
There is a lady who lives in the same block as me, who's got 6 kids, and lots of grandchildren. I hardly ever see any of them. I have lived here for 5 years, and have very occasionally seen two of her daughters, and one of her granddaughters, and that's it. I know several of her family members live nearby. She's really struggling with coping on her own, and after she retired, she developed depression and agoraphobia. Left to herself, she then started drinking, presumably to forget about how lonely she's feeling. This has made her mental illness worse. The family do b*gger all.
This is by no means an unusual story. Having children does not guarantee that you'll have someone to look after you in old age. It would be nice if that was the case, and of course there are lovely families where this is the case. But not always.
Yeah, I'm a cynic. I have very little belief in humans being inherently good. Sorry.
Well, I have a grand old choice, there...Under the lorry that I won't be trying to climb into whilst it's moving, under a van, under a car that I won't be working under, or lung cancer caused by the 40 a day that I don't smoke. It seems the number one killer of members of my family is stupidity.
How am I going to die? I don't care. I have no reason to prolong my life, and I certainly don't want to be immortal. I'd really rather just drop dead and get it over with. And if I'm going to be festering in a hospital bed for years - i don't think I want to spend the best pert of my life looking forward to it!!
It is a view that is coloured by a recent experience in my family. I am only too acutely aware that not all families are the same.
The family you mention is a sad reflection on how we can behave and probably points out how neglectful we are towards those who society / media present as useless once they have stopped contributing to the economy. I would perhaps be questioning why a situation like this has been going on, why are they allowing it to remain the same and what work others e.g mental health professionals have done with the family.
Having children indeed does not guarantee our future in our dotage. But I have told mine to always make sure I have adequate supplies of Stella and Raspberry vodka when I can't totter down to the shops. Seriously though I have unfortunately seen the other side of the families when I worked with the elderly.
Whilst I would still want to remain an optimist I am all too reminded everyday in the work that I do with children and families, that human beings can inflict the most awful pain and degredation on others, I still can manage to believe that there are some really good genuine people out there that do care. Whether they are in the maj or min is another debate but thankfully they are there. I don't feel I could pathologise all human beings as inherintly bad because of what I see everyday.
Last edited by rubyred; 2nd-July-2007 at 11:37 PM. Reason: I haven't got the hang of this multi quoting yet and is in reply to Little Monkey before. X
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