Reasons for a long life

Guy - I think luck has some part in it. I'll be 76 in 2
months and I've already passed my mother's age at death and
I'm within a year of my father's age at death. Both died of
heart complications. I had a bypass over 6 years ago and
have probably had fixed what killed my parents. Neither, by
the way, had diabetes. So - medical improvements have
probably made a BIG difference for me. My daughter, in the
recovery room, told me that her employer, Jet Propulsion Lab
(NASA and Cal Tech) had made some of the "stuff" that
wriggled through my heart and showed up on the X-rays. Luck?
Modern medicine? Don't know - but I REALLY appreciate being
around. Nan, Type 2

(Nan Eklund) said:

Guy - I think luck has some part in it. I'll be 76 in 2
months and I've already passed my mother's age at death and
I'm within a year of my father's age at death. Both died of
heart complications. I had a bypass over 6 years ago and
have probably had fixed what killed my parents. Neither, by
the way, had diabetes. So - medical improvements have
probably made a BIG difference for me. My daughter, in the
recovery room, told me that her employer, Jet Propulsion
Lab (NASA and Cal Tech) had made some of the "stuff" that
wriggled through my heart and showed up on the X-rays.
Luck? Modern medicine? Don't know - but I REALLY appreciate
being around. Nan, Type 2

Nan, what bothers me is I was a very productive person and
was proud of what I achieved. Now I feel like a parasite at
times. I read technical paper and lose it too often. I
suppose that I felt my life was the work and it is gone. Old
age without a life is not the greatest. But I stay busy in
the areas where I can still function. Better than the
alternative but wish it were better. I am five years past
the bypass and that is a marker. Really, all I worry about
is the discomfort that comes with diabetes. Guy

Quoted message said:

Some things we see today do extend life a bit but what
about the quality of life? But we see great promises. This
pill-------. This diet-------. This fad---------. .

Yeah. One thing that a lot of us can do is exercise. That is
better than a pill or fad. Some of us can't exercise, but it
may be that certain breathing techniques can be practiced
that simulate aerobic exercise.

My father in law is in at home hospice treatment for
congestive heart failure. To get in this program his doctor
had to certify that he was expected to live six months or
less. That was a year and a half ago and he is in better
shape now than then. There may be a number of factors,
including the excellent hospice care.

He started getting sort of dramatically better when he began
eating an artichoke every other day. Sounds weird, but
stranger things have happened. The only reason he doesn't
eat one every day is the expense. His wife steams it and he
just savors each leaf.

I find this interesting because traditionally artichoke
supposedly has some medicinal properties.

He is not dancing a jig, however.

BL

"As the waves pass the rock, their shape is changed. There
is a hologram of the rock within the wave that comes forward
and crashes on the beach, then there's a reflected wave
back." Ralph Abraham

"I'd like to learn to windsurf." BL