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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 1:42:48 PM | I have noticed in recent months that there seem to be more people dying in their 50s than just a few years ago. It is not uncommon to see one or two deaths listed for that age group when I occasionally glance at the local paper's obituaries. Even while saying that, as someone who works in the home health sector, most of my clients are well into their 80s, if not their 90s and still fairly with it mentally and physically.
I have had two close calls in the last 20 years; a cardiac arrest and a blood clot, yet am still here. Gives me the desire to live a more healthy lifestyle and to appreciate every moment as a precious gift. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 2:26:31 PM | goodmangreg, i'm dating a man whose wife came home over a year ago and dropped dead at age 53. he too only knew her five years and was married just a couple. with his loss, came many others. i think some of us, have a built in tackle it and learn and spread the love innate mechanism. others are frozen in depression or sour in their armour and others hold fear close to their hearts. i am happy that you seem to be the one trying to spread what you have learned and you have an  looking out for you. i do believe it's better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved or to have been loved..........but again, i'm an educated risk taker. some don't want the pain and thus never feel the joy.  | |
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R2D2_1
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Joined: 3/25/2009
Msg: 28 | |
| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 2:51:44 PM | Death at or around 50 is extremely rare unless you're obese or suffer from some genetic defect and even then, it's not that common. Michael Jackson died from an alleged drug overdose. Elvis Presley died from a drug overdose. So have many other prominent entertainers. So nothing natural with that. My younger brother died from a heart attack at 55 after living a normal stress free healthy lifestyle. My older brother, who farmed, has cancer and emphizema (sp). Neither one smoked a cigarette their entire life and neither one had a weight problem. Farming is hard on one's health though because of the dirt and chemicals.
My uncle and aunt are in their 90s and both have smoked since their teen years. For 90+, they're both healthy and still smoke and the only last generation relatives I have that are still alive. All the nonsmokers are dead. Course most all of them were overweight and not very active. Go figure!!!
My point is, you just don't know regardless of how you live your life. When your times up, it's up. Nothing you can do about it. I don't spend any time thinking about it. A decent health care system that everyone has access to would go a long way toward preventing the early deaths that do occur. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 3:00:11 PM | There is the fact of how many people die at 50 and then there is the question of how it can seem like something is happening more from how you're noticing it more. If you buy a red car, you'll start noticing all the other red cars and it will seem like there are more of them on the road. You wouldn't have any idea of how many green cars there were, as those would be overlooked. Has the number of people dying at 17 or 35 seemed to go up or down recently? You'd know if you had been paying attention to those numbers.
One of the chores of middle age is to take death seriously as something that will happen in the foreseeable future instead of way off someday too far ahead to imagine. Each time you learn of someone dying it's another chance to think on the subject a few minutes before something else distracts you. Once you collect a few examples to ponder it becomes time to move from the individual examples to the overall theme, and fit yourself into it somehow. It's on your mind because you're coming to terms with your own mortality. In youth the job is to look ahead at life and what all you will be doing with it. Then as old age approaches the job changes to include looking ahead towards death, how you'll die, what you've done so far, if your life has meant anything and what else you might have left to do.
5o is significant because we count to 100, even if we live to 75 or so. By rights, 38 should be the age we consider mid-life. But we tend to think of 50 as half way there, and the unofficial end of summer, so to speak.
I'm still trying to decide if I want to turn 50. My idea of life after 50 is dismal. It may be just a number but somehow this particular number seems to represent something big, and I'm not sure what that is, exactly. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 3:39:45 PM | "many people seem to be dying right around the age of 50"
Average life expectancy in USA is females 80, males 74. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 4:01:28 PM | I lost my husband this year at 45. He was a diabetic, high blood pressure and was a farmer. He was under alot of stress but was controlled with medication. He died in my arms and I was completely devistated. Being in the country it took the paramedics 12 minutes to get to the farm. I did CPR til they arrived, but they never could get a pulse or heart beat back .
This guy was not overweight, but stress kills. As I sat by his body for 4 hours waiting for the coroner to arrive while the paramedics and cops milled about I realized that life is precious and can change in a heartbeat.
Guard your health like you would your bank account. Do everything you can to make sure you live to see your retirement, your grandchildren and walk your daughter down the isle. Its such a waste to die so young after working your whole life.
Deb | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 4:18:49 PM |
Death at or around 50 is extremely rare unless you're obese or suffer from some genetic defect and even then, it's not that common.
Nope. Lots of people die at or around 50. Check the obit's. Overdoses, disease, heart attacks, cancer, strokes, the list goes on. We just don't notice until it's someone we know. As far as 'taking care of ourselves', as another person posted, there are plenty of people in their 90's that have eaten what today's medical science would call a terrible diet, smoked, and drank, and still made it to 90. There's no sure recipe for a long life; it's all still a 'best guess' situation. I especially liked this one that I got in the mail a few days ago:
Q: Doctor, I’ve heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products.
Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake?
A: No, not at all. Wine is made from fruit. Brandy is distilled wine that means they take the water out of the fruity bit so you get even more of the goodness that way. Beer is also made out of grain. Bottoms up!
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body and you have fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain...Good!
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: YOU'RE NOT LISTENING!!! ..... Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they’re permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
Q: Is chocolate bad for me?
A: Are you crazy? HELLO Cocoa beans! Another vegetable!!! It's the best feel-good food around!
Q: Is swimming good for your figure?
A: If swimming is good for your figure, explain whales to me.
Q: Is getting in-shape important for my lifestyle?
A: Hey! 'Round' is a shape!
Well, I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had about food and diets.
And remember:
'Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - Chardonnay in one hand - chocolate in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO, What a Ride'
AND.....
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 4:48:38 PM | Oh my God, this thread is so sad.
I am still trying to make the most of each day, not in a flamboyant way, but in a way that makes me happy with my life.
I think it is a shame that in the American workplace, there are so many older workers who are treated like garbage every day and it actually could be their last day. Makes me wish there was more dignity in life.
Honestly, I don't mind being 51. I look forward to retirement one day.
I really want to see a grandchild, and I keep the faith that one day some woman will actually love me....something I never had. I laugh a lot during a typical day.....for that alone, I am happy with my life. I look forward to tomorrow.........
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 5:19:48 PM |
I think it is a shame that in the American workplace, there are so many older workers who are treated like garbage every day and it actually could be their last day. Makes me wish there was more dignity in life.
Case in point: I was in the acute palliative unit at one of the local hospitals last fall. Thankfully unbenownst to me, it was thought on several fronts that I would not "make it". My immediate supervisor along with the Manager of Human Resources (both of whom are in the same age bracket that I am) came to pay me a visit whilst I was in the hospital. Neither of those individuals were aware that there was was a strong likeliehood that I would not make it. My supervisor spent a great deal of time during that visit to ensure that she had advised me many times just how well my temporary replacement was performing my duties while I was in the hospital. I still shake my head in wonderment. I wonder if it is a normal occurence and the status quo for a supervisor to indicate to a seriously ill employee that they are disposible and that things have worked out well due to one's illness. I felt like a piece of garbage and the best expectation for me, from the supervisor's viewpoint, was to die. Fortunately for me but unfortunately for her, I still exist and my peers at work have been a tremendous support to me throughout.
Sooo, readyornot57, it is not only the American workplace that can treat older workers like garbage - it has happened to me in the Canadian workplace and I'm sure it happens in other countries as well. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/3/2009 9:11:41 PM | Tarnished Knight: :"I check the obit… I find is that folk around my age are dieing, not of the ravages of time, but of something more tragic: auto crashes, sudden illness, violent atrocities."
In my family's cases, there was body neglect coupled with tragedies. Since I am both their spitting images, it has just popped up in my mind more recently than ever before.
Farceur: "There is the fact of how many people die at 50 and then there is the question of how it can seem like something is happening more from how you're noticing it more. My idea of life after 50 is dismal. It may be just a number but somehow this particular number seems to represent something big."
I know I am noticing it even more because I've been conditioned to believe that one should have 'arrived' by age 50 and I still feel like I'm just really getting started!
SometimesMiss: "As far as 'taking care of ourselves'…plenty of people in their 90's that have eaten… a terrible diet, smoked, and drank, and still made it to 90…There's no sure recipe for a long life; it's all still a 'best guess' situation."
I believe when it's my time, I'll go - but like everyone, I wanna squeeze in ALL my aspirations. And I've found that things take a lot longer and not everything can be accomplished all by myself !
ReadyorNot57: "I keep the faith that one day some woman will actually love me....something I never had."
You have just honed in on my main fear - that I'll go before finding that someone who will actually get me! And, I'm trying to keep hope alive!
Thanks to all the posters...I wasn't trying to depress anyone or suggest you've outlived your time...just something I had been pondering more and more these days. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/4/2009 2:49:20 AM | Eat and drink what you like.
That's my philosophy on food and drink too as long as you balance intake with 
Speaking English is apparently what kills you.   | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/4/2009 7:37:49 AM | I think it's all this healthy food that killing people off, when I was a kid they knew how to put a stick of butter in every dish, even the peas, and they knew to fry in bacon fat and drink whole milk even unpasteurized milk. We had break & butter with meals and desserts swimming in butter and we ate ice cream and made pie crusts with lard....people just don't eat like the good old days anymore!  | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/4/2009 7:55:44 AM | Dayna
I remember putting sugar on grapefruit
gravy on anything.....the "anything" was an excuse to eat gravy
many people had eggs every day
there wasn't lite anything
french fries were not evil
remember the HUGE ice cream sundaes? | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/4/2009 9:36:33 AM | | I think using an IV sedative to fall asleep that was intended for use in operating theatres with mechanical respirators had more to do with MJ's exit at the FIVE-OH marker than any other single factor. 100 years ago living past 40 was quite an accomplishment statistically -- since most didn't. The average life expectancy for our species over it's evolutionary history is 32 years -- the "human 'milk bottle' age" -- that's why our bodies work fine until a point around that age and then start to lose ground. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/4/2009 1:01:29 PM | Every day in my city, the obituaries are predominated by folks in their late 40's to late 50's....many of whom were former coworkers and classmates....
I wonder, I REALLY do.... | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/4/2009 4:53:05 PM | think about it......we mostly eat processed foods, our air/water is filled with pollutants, we've become lazier & lazier (aren't we all guilty of this as we sit here and type??) yes, medicines and health care has advanced, but unfortunately alot of it not in our best interests (ie, the paragraphs of side effects for all these supposedly great, new meds that are synthetically engineered).
scary? yes. i just turned 50 in may, and while my mother's paternal side has enjoyed many living well into their 90's, my dad's paternal and maternal sides both are leaving this world at a max age of early 70's.
all we can do is try to live as healthy as our world allows....buy organic, try herbal remedies, use acupuncture and other forms of non--invasive health care.....and on & on. educate ourselves!!! while we can't do anything about the genes we inherited, we can do something about the way we live.
stop worrying.....that in itself can lead to an earlier death than normal!
so live like your"name" suggests.....have some serious fun! :-) | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 5:59:01 AM | I've lost several people in my life to early deaths from a baby, to a toddler, to a teenager, to my best friend in her 30's..............family, spouse............In fact, I basically lost almost everyone in my family almost 22 years ago now.
One of the things that I learned from all of that is that what really frightens people about unexpected losses and deaths is that usually there has not been any power to control or stop the death/loss. It reminds us of how truly powerless we are. We can go on and on about how we can control the length and quality of our lives if we exercise and eat right and do this and do that................but the reality is that there are a lot of situations where people die young and it has nothing to do with them doing anything WRONG..........
For every Michael Jackson who has died with questions of drug abuse, there are people like Liam's wife who died in a ski accident, Swayze with pancreatic cancer, Landon with pancreatic cancer, the young kid from Poltergeist who died..........people who have done nothing "wrong" to cause their deaths...........
The 50's basically is a kind of "weeding out" time. People develop cancers and are cured or have heart attacks and have bypasses.............and people go through illnesses that would have killed them 25 years ago but now we have medical treatments that get them through that period and they live another 10 to 20 to 30 years beyond that.
And then there are others like Tim Russert who pass away and don't get a chance for bypasses and things like that.............
None of us can know how many more days we have left to enjoy the world and loved ones around us.............that's why it's so important to enjoy each day as it comes and to have compassion for those whose lives are cut short instead of finding fault and blaming them for their own deaths........so we can feel that we can avoid that happening to us if we do the "right" things........JMO | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 11:09:12 AM | | Death is part of living. Its unavoidable at some given point and time. Yes one can take steps to be healthy and live by intelligent choices. But also if your on that interstate and someone falls asleep,or is under the influence it doesnt matter how many push ups you did that morning. Point is death is certain but its chance also. All we can do is try to avoid risky behavior and just live life. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 11:59:23 AM | Heart attacks the state of medicine in the U.S. and HIV.
If you look at statistics by race in the U.S. you discover that the U.S. is still a country of great divisions. Health care, since it is not universal is very different by race. The rates of HIV in the U.S. are different by race, and the rate of Cardiovascular disease if very different by race.
Add in the greater prevalence of diabetes and obesity, it's not surprising you might notice a difference in death rates.
Don't believe me? surf the internet and see what the stats are.
(By the way Canadians enjoy the longest life spans of anynation's people in the Americas.)
Ketch | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 3:52:19 PM | by 50 the free ride of just existing is over mostly and if you do DRUGS like Jackson or elvis did then you;re killing yourself. i am 50, I am fine but I too have noticed the death age nearing. Cancer is what usually gets 50 year olds.
No exercise and eating whatever you want is sure way to shorten your life, smoking on top of that and you are really asking for it.
We also have more stress in our lives. Americans have longer workk weeks than most other countries and all the advances have just increased stress. The web, the cell phone, just makes things more competitive and the economy is making things worse as well.
We need to want less (materialistic), slow down, eat better, sleep better, drink less, smoke NONE, and NO drugs.
You do realize MJ was using heavy meds that only an anathesiologist should use?
We humans don't just get to 70 and are all worn out, it is gradual and by 50 we are wearing things out...my knees aren't the same as they were at 30 or 40, i can tell. I am trying to lose some weight and I am not even that heavy.
We all need to look out for #1. Look up Tim Russert for another example, rich man who died young. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 4:46:59 PM | Due to a surgerical error according to the medical profession I was supposed to die half my life ago......................too mean to die..........................sheer will power demands I am going no where for a long time
Those who abuse drug or alcohol probably won't be so able to laugh it off as they age. | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 5:17:35 PM |
too mean to die
I love that Miss Moraima, and you are probably right!
Attitude can have a lot to do with it.
]
Statistics say that people who live alone (single, divorced, widowed) have a shorter life expectancy. People who have pets live longer. People who are involved with volunteer work, live longer.
Personally, I think it's all horse hockey!
I am the first male in my family to reach my age( oh, yes age of 62.....ready to drop any second) without having a heart attack. My Dad had his first at age 50,,,passed eventually at age 76, but had a lot of suffering in between.
Modern medicine has taught us so much!! When my father had his attack, he spent a month in the hospital. Now, tjhey get you up, moving, and out in no time! Well, yesthat has to do a lot with the HMO plans, etc.
But, I feel good in saying that, with regular Dr appts, the right Rx, ....I am (so my Dr says) in no iminent danger....BP good, cholesterol good, weight about right....
No, at age 62, I'll probably be taken out (like too many others) while on my HD, and getting pushed off the road by a cager with a dang cell phone upside their head!
It all averages out.
Live your life, and love it. If you, like me, live alone without a life partner to share your last years with, get involved with something....a reason to set the alarm clock and get up in the morning!!
'Like a friend of mine says..."Get outta the rack! We got a mission to do today!" | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 6:16:57 PM | I think that the earth has way too many pollutants and stress in our lives...also a lot of the celebrities that have passed close to age 50 have done more than their fair share of drugs, both prescription and illegal ones, and have lived their lives rather fast..if you get my drift.
I have been taking better care of myself since I turned 40, and at the age of 52, I am in pretty good health, except for my knee (which needs to be re-replaced...loooong story). My body has been wearing out since I was 19, I am an orthopedic nightmare with more than 20 surgeries under my belt...so I think it may be a genetic card we are dealt, that is what mine has been, but it doesn't stop me for long.
I think if we did more physical things, not just working out but gardening and walking and enjoying the little things, that we might all live longer.
Hugs...Martha | |
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| Death and the age of 50....
Posted: 7/5/2009 6:17:43 PM | "People who have pets live longer. People who are involved with volunteer work, live longer."
Then I guess I will never die especially with my attitude.
My mother turned 90 before her death, and my father survived cancer for over 20 years before he died at 80. I am not even going to think about it for years to come.
I do believe though that people decide when to die. Life gets too thought/exhausting for them and they send die messages to the brain. Enough messages and brain gives the body what it is asking for. | |
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