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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticaltyger
I think the real culprit is the so-called American diet. Americans eat the most unnatural, unhealthy, non-foods on the planet. ...
Not so in my case. I lost 3 pre 55 friends this yr. All were physically well fit to an extreme, 2 were healthfood / vegetarians / natural food consumers.
ALL DID NOT HAVE ACCESS to HEALTHCARE (lost jobs, self employed, poor)
As of today I have 5 more pre 55 friends who will likely die in the next yr. All are health nuts / conscious consumers. NONE are overweight / smoke / abuse subtances
I think we have a societal problem (in addition to poor health and too expensive healthcare access). Recessions / depressions CAN do this, but they do not have to if you have a society that pulls together (that would NOT be the USA in this era) Things have changed, not all is good. We are becoming even more isolated and insulated, this is not good either.
It is particularly disturbing to see perfectly healthy, fit people suddenly passing away.
Has anyone got any statistics about the rates and causes of death between those in their 50s and those in their 60s? If there is any significant difference, and what the factors might be?
The only co-workers and friends that died in their 50's were two that never went to a doctor until it was too late. IMO we focus on those that die in their 50's because it is shocking to us that someone would die so young and it makes us start sitting up and taking notice of our own mortality.
The only "age of death" that exists is the age at which each of us dies. The rest is simply anecdotal.
For example, both my mother and father died in their 60s. This year - and the year isn't over yet - my wife and I have lost six relatives and close friends, including my BIL (69), and three close friends & former coworkers (all in their 60s). The other two were in their 80s.
Assuming that death is of natural causes, the age at which any individual dies is determined by so many different factors that to consider any range of ages to be more the "age of death" than any other range ... well, to me it's meaningless.
The only "age of death" that exists is the age at which each of us dies. The rest is simply anecdotal.
For example, both my mother and father died in their 60s. This year - and the year isn't over yet - my wife and I have lost six relatives and close friends, including my BIL (69), and three close friends & former coworkers (all in their 60s). The other two were in their 80s.
Assuming that death is of natural causes, the age at which any individual dies is determined by so many different factors that to consider any range of ages to be more the "age of death" than any other range ... well, to me it's meaningless.
Was to me as well until I'd "lived" with the trend. Lotsa anecdotes. Too many. Just became a poser for me. Perhaps I sat up and took more notice of mortality, mine and others', after what I would consider my parents' "early" deaths over 20 years ago - my mother at 67 and my father at 71 just over a year apart.
Elanor Mondale and Kara Kennedy both just died at age 51. While I was in my 50s, eight coworkers died, most of heart attacks, and all were in their early to late 50s. I decided that the best guarantee of a long life was to survive your 50s so my 60th birthday was cause for celebration and relief. So far, so good!
Anyone else ever notice this trend which most of us, thus far, have been able to avoid or live beyond. I have my theory as to why the 50s are so "dangerous," other than it being a corporate plot to avoid pension payments. What are yours, if any?
Well, this is cheery.
I am 53. But yes, in the past few years, a number of my 50-something coworkers have died. Just in the past two years, one died of a heart attack at 52, one of complications (kidney failure) after relatively uncomplicated surgery at 52, and most recently, a 54-year-old who had ALS.
Re your 60th birthday--my father was the same way, and we didn't realize his mindset until he had that birthday. His father had died of a heart attack at 59, as did all but one uncle on that side of the family. On my dad's 60th, he laughed and said, "Well, I made it." He lived to be 78, by the way.
This depends on how you take care of your health. Diet, exercising and maintenence.
Not always. My coworker who died of a heart attack at 52 was one of those people who always told everyone else not to smoke--he never had. He watched his diet, and was athletic--played basketball in his younger days and coached his daughters' high school teams.
Woke up in the middle of the night one night having trouble breathing--his wife called 911, and he was dead when they got there.
Another coworker of mine was the same way--healthy eater, didn't smoke, exercised regularly--died last year after jogging. But he was 63.
Yes, the odds are on your side if you watch your health, but there are no guarantees.
My younger brother died on Monday, Sept. 12th, 2011 of a heart attack. He just fell to the ground, gone. He was 51 also. It is very sad to lose someone so young.
I am sorry, brava4. Losing a sibling brings its own special feeling of grief differnt from losing a parent or a friend. I lost a brother to liver disease five years ago. He was also 51.
Re theories--you know how you sometimes hear of someone REALLY young--in their 20's or 30's, for example--suddenly dropping dead of a heart attack or a stroke?
Years ago I read someone's theory who said to look back to the turn of the 20th century and before and remember that many children often did not make it to adulthood. Diphtheria, flu, and other diseases would sweep through, and the weaker children would not survive them. This guy said that with modern medicine/cures and preventive vaccines, these weaker children now survive to adulthood, but often have a defect or weakness that is unknown, and die as young adults instead.
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