to wonder what the hell we're actually going to die of

[RebeccaWithTheGoodHair]

I've wanted to ask this for a while but have held off for fear of being insensitive. So if you are someone with a relative ill at the moment I apologise in advance if my question is upsetting at all.

But it is a genuine AIBU to ask if the aim is to cure everyone of cancer/heart disease/everything what is going to be left for us to die of/with?

Agree OP rising life expectancy terrifies me.

BabyGanoush of course it is a bad thing for you personally - every death is a bad thing for that person and their family/friends but we do need things to die of.

In 50 years or so antibiotics will be a third-world solution to disease - still useful but not the go-to thing. So we don't need to worry much about resistance in the long term (in the short term, there may be outbreaks). Antibiotics are a ridiculously blunt instrument when it comes to disease - they are fantastic and have made a huge difference but they need to be superseded in the not too distant future.

I want to die just like one of my grandfathers - very quickly and painlessly of a heart attack, right at the end of a happy afternoon doing a lifelong favourite hobby with friends. That's my aim.

Bear in mind that there was a time when neither antibiotics nor vaccines existedl and everyone just accepted that a child under 5 had a low chance of survival. Then things changed. And things will change again, for good or for bad.

Having seen both pil in a care home and all the others in there - I can't help thinking that modern medicine has a lot to answer for. Mil had extremely advanced dementia, yet on both of the occasions she contracted pneumonia she was carted off to hospital, pumped full of antibiotics and returned to the nursing home to sit in a vegetative state for another couple of years. She had a DNR in place but pneumonia is considered treatable. The whole business was pointless and, actually, cruel and undignified.

I don't care what I die of provided I'm given pain relief and it's relatively quick. What I do NOT want is for the health care system or my family trying to eek out every last breathe from my tired body as if having me around for an extra week/month is really vital in the grand scheme of things. When I'm done I'm done, let me go when the time comes the thought of lingering like a bad smell scares me way more than death does.

Pretty sure that overpopulation will mean that euthanasia becomes acceptable and mainstream within the next 30-30 years. I certainly wouldn't want to live once the joy had gone out of it.

Ereni my grandad went much the same way at 88. An absolute blessing.

Eventually artificial superintelligence will probably either lead to the immortality or extinction of the human race.

I think that it's entirely feasible that at some point nanotechnology or similar will enable us to essentially live forever in a prime state of physical health.

The question is then how do we deal with Earths limited space and resources, do we colonise other planets, do we still reproduce or what?
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Agree Rhoda. DH and I have three very sick parents between us, and they are at the point where they have less and less quality of life. FIL hasn't been out of his (nursing home) bed - except for being carted off to hospital - for months. It's absolute cruelty imho.

My DH had various illnesses, and at 78 told his doctor he wanted no more treatment. They made him comfortable, and he died within a week. Always was a stubborn bugger though - bless his heart.

we will all die of heart failure - however there will be many reasons why the heart gives up

Sorry, reading this I found myself thinking about the last series of Torchwood.

My grandma lived a good 5 (or more, I'm not sure) years longer than she really wanted to. Every winter we were told it would be her last, last Christmas etc.
She was in a nursing home as she could barely move. Sadly for her she still had most of her marbles and absolutely hated being stuck in a room with the TV on all day with people who couldn't talk to her.
Every time she went into hospital in those years she'd get awkward, stop eating and drinking. She didn't want to continue, but modern medicine insisted on it.
In the end she went very peacefully in her sleep. Heart failure in the end.
I'd like to die like that, if I can skip the multiple years of no quality of life!

Another vote here for superbugs, and unfortunately I think it ain't gonna be pretty My great-grandmother always said "You've got so much muck to eat before you die", but now because everything is so sterile and hygiene practices are through the roof, nobody can build up any immunity to anything. Antibiotics are failing to keep up with the development of new bugs, and our immune systems aren't strong enough to afford much natural protection.

My grandmother died last year after developing chronic vascular dementia over a period of about six years, and it was heart-breaking to watch this strong, vibrant, beautiful woman deteriorate into a mere shell of a person. In an ideal world, she would probably have passed away about two years before she actually did, to spare her some of the most unnecessary suffering I've ever seen. She didn't want to be alive any more, her family didn't want her to suffer any more, but there was nothing we could do. I know it sounds awful, but if she had been a cat or dog, she would have been put to sleep.

I keep trying to make DP promise that if I get like that, can't wipe my own arse and haven't got a clue what day it is, he'll put a pillow over my face, but he's having none of it

I'm in favour of elective euthanasia. That means I get to make the choice, hopefully in advance when I am capable of being fully informed.
I dont want to drag along for years with dementia or Parkinsons.

Surly, just the same with my dad. He has long since checked out, doesn't know anyone, doesn't smile, can't feed himself, go to the toilet, dress himself. He has even forgotten all the hundreds of songs he would hum and whistle all day (he's the most genuinely musical man I've ever known). What on earth is the point of treating his every sniffle? He's only 73 but still.

Nearly ALL relatives say this. HCPs and carers say this. And still they pump them full of antibiotics because they're too scared not to.

Something needs to change.

Has anybody else read In the Midst of Life? It's one of the call the midwife books. Really changed my views on death.

I'm going to be one of these ould dolls with DNR tattooed accross my chest

According to tinterweb

Top 10 leading causes of death

•Heart disease.
•Cancer (malignant neoplasms)
•Chronic lower respiratory disease.
•Accidents (unintentional injuries)
•Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases)
•Alzheimer's disease.
•Diabetes (diabetes mellitus)
•Influenza and pneumonia.

If cancer and heart disease are cured it still leaves plenty of other conditions.

I don't want to live forever! I've told my daughter that if I make it to 70 I'm taking up whisky and cheroots.

But other than accidents everything on that list is potentially curable and actively being researched to do so.

I guess the question is what do people actually want to die from, what is considered an acceptable death?

(And saying 'naturally in my sleep' is a cop-out!)

IFailed you clearly don't know much about the history of dementia or even the old sayings about people doting or being in their dotage. Dementia has been happening for a lot longer than you think. While I'm not meaning to pick on you I am pointing out that this is the reason it's being more publicised . Educating people about it and the different types is hugely important.

Sukey I'm so sorry about your dad People might say, "Ooh, 73! That's no age these days", but if the quality of that 73 year old's life is practically non-existent then what it is achieving to keep them alive? It's causing unnecessary suffering for the person themselves, and it's bloody awful for their family and friends.

I am totally in favour of an overhaul in the laws surrounding elective euthanasia.

I've seen a great deal of death in my life, and a great deal of life prolonged artificially, painfully, and without any semblance of what could possibly be called dignity. Personally, I plan to die of a painless overdose when I'm ready (I have the means prescribed for life). And I'm in now way depressed: I enjoy my life, but I don't share this belief in life at any cost.

And forget all this survivalist/prepper business, if there's a nuclear war or environmental catastrophe, I'm out of here.

Thank you Surly. He developed dementia at 67. He's been very unlucky :(

and new antibiotics are being researched with good results so far - I'm afraid not. There is precious little new in the antibiotic line and with the insane overuse and misuse of antibiotics, we are in for a very horrid time with superbugs.