Variables predict a ‘long liver’

Facts on how long a per­son can live have always intrigued me. There are many vari­ables that can pre­dict a person’s death.

Health, lifestyle, eco­nom­ics and the peo­ple around you all deter­mine the like­li­hood of a short life or a long life. Love and luck also play a huge part in longevity. Prayer has been proven to def­i­nitely affect a person’s life span.

The mor­tal­ity rates in the United States have dropped sharply over the last 100 years. Sur­vival of young chil­dren in the past 75 years has seen the most dra­matic improve­ment with a 16 times dif­fer­ence in fatalities.

It is dif­fi­cult to grasp that the mor­tal­ity rate dur­ing the days of the Roman Empire was only 25 years old. In 1912, the over­all longevity rate was 54 years. In 2012, the aver­age age of mor­tal­ity has risen to 78 years in the United States. There are many rea­sons for this improvement.

Cur­rently car­diac dis­ease, can­cer and strokes account for the high­est lead­ing causes of deaths. Influenza and pneu­mo­nia are less deadly in 2012.

Med­ical advance­ments have the biggest influ­ence over these death rates. The emer­gence of antibi­otics, like peni­cillin and sulfa drugs, before and after World War II brought a huge decline in deaths due to infec­tions. New treat­ments for car­dio­vas­cu­lar dis­eases in the past 40 years have con­tributed to a more than 40 per­cent decline in the mor­tal­ity rate.

Genet­ics, gen­der and race are the some of biggest deter­mi­nants of mor­tal­ity. I know a man who is 45 years old and jubi­lant over being alive; the men in his fam­ily rarely live past 40 due to heart disease.

Pre­ven­ta­tive med­i­cine has been impor­tant in pro­long­ing lives. Improved water sup­plies and sewage dis­posal is a basic cause of longevity. Early diag­nos­ing and treat­ment of heart dis­ease and stroke account for the aging of our population.

Changes in smok­ing habits and improved nutri­tion affect the longevity sta­tis­tics. Although fewer peo­ple are dying of mal­nu­tri­tion and nutri­ent defi­ciency, some experts are pre­dict­ing over nutri­tion may even­tu­ally affect the death statistics.

Many with car­diac diag­noses may have low­ered their risk of death with a low sat­u­rated fat, reduced sodium diet with increased activ­ity. On the other hand, even more have increased their risk of becom­ing an early sta­tis­tic with high fat, ele­vated salt meals and more time in front of the tele­vi­sion and computer.

In fact, some mor­tal­ity tables pre­dict that because of an inac­tive lifestyle and more processed food, those born after 2000 may have a lower life expectancy than those born prior to the new mil­len­nium. Go figure.

A woman in my church will soon cel­e­brate her 97th birth­day. She declares that because of good livin’ and a lot of lovin,’ she has out­lived most of her friends. Another friend boasted of her advanc­ing age with a cute ditty, “I’m a good cooker, a good looker and a long liver!” May we all be a long liver.

Bob­bie Ran­dall is a cer­ti­fied dia­betes edu­ca­tor, reg­is­tered, licensed dietit­ian. She super­vises a dia­betes self-management train­ing pro­gram at Aultman-Orrville Hos­pi­tal, Orrville. Con­tact her at bobbie.randall@aultmanorrville.org or 330–684-4776.

Posted by Bobbie Randall on Mar 22 2012. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS Feed. Comments can be made below.