Old folks dying of,,,,,,old age?

[MrsDeltaB]

Whilst I appreciate there is a general outpouring of someone or the actor of a character that you may have grown up with.

Liz Dawn. Died at 77. Yes. Sad. To her family. But why the outpouring of grief to a person of elder generation who may or may not have simply died of old age?

I can't help but get cross when folks are 'gutted' 'devastated' about the death of an old person dying of, being old! "97 year old died of old age'

I think I don't find older people's deaths to be shocking, but I do still find them sad. If my mum lives to be 150 I'll still cry my eyes out when she dies, her age is irrelevant.

I think your experience has coloured how you think and I also think that it massively depends on what health they are in. My nan was in her early 80s, but she was very poorly and had been for a while and we had said our goodbyes to her as we knew her yrs before she died. My grandma on the other side is 92 and although has some health problems now is still organising weekends away, family holidays and generally getting on with life as best as she is able with help from her children (67 and 70) and numerous grand and great grandchildren. my dad is 70 and I don't like to think of him as old at all!

Actually, dementia is also a legitimate cause of death on a certificate. It can affect people as young as their late 40s if a severe or genetic form such as Picks disease. Old age is also a legitimate cause of death the human heart can only beat so many times, and wears out after a certain point is reached (earlier in some people compared to others - depending upon past medical history etc).

All of our bodies will wear out and cease to function at a certain time - it cannot go on forever - sometimes that is just old age, sometimes, it happens much earlier because of other illnessses

77 may not be that age but yes of course people die from old age.

Op I agree

Velocity surely in the example you've given the person died of heart failure then?

I process death certificates at work sometimes, old age is definitely cited as a secondary cause of death. One recent one mentioned "frailties of extreme old age" or something similar, as well as the primary cause. The person in question was well over their century...

I have been dreading my granny's death for ages she's 96 and I love her dearly

Ok fair enough, It's very rare but possible for people to die of dementia, but it's extremely rare this will ever be the documented case, as it's effectively memory loss.

Usually something will take the dementia patient way before they die of dementia.

Any type of organ failure they may suffer will be written as the cause of death.

Of course they can forget how to eat/drink and eventually breathe which would be the specific. But it's not very common.

That's a very long, horrible drawn out process and comes with a ton of problems way before it's the 'dementia' that takes them.

So come on. Can you die of old age or not? Half of you say you can the other half say you can't?

79 is average life expectancy for men, and 82 for women.

Old age I thought is given as a cause of death when someone is very old, and there is no obvious reason why they died.

My grandfather died of old age at 95. That's what it said on his death certificate.

Actually he died of a broken heart after the death of my grandmother 4 days earlier, but that's not an accepted cause of death. We were relieved for him and celebrated their long and happy lives together as much as we mourned them.

I haven't seen her death described as 'shocking' anywhere. I think it's better described as a notable death. And yes, when it's somebody a lot of people have seen on TV several times a week for a good chunk of their lives they will feel a little wistful.

It reminds you of your own mortality too. I remember when I went to Butlins on holiday (and this is really sketchy because I was small) she was singing there. This is during Corrie, because there was a display of some of her wigs from the show in the lobby. She was really quite young and glamourous at the time, she must have been early 40s. And yes it did really remind me of my own mortality that someone like that had died as a Great Grandmother. Sometimes you don't realise how old you've got yourself until something like this reminds you.

I understand what you mean op.

I'm not really understanding posters who are saying "77 is not old". For the generation this particular woman belonged to, yes it is.

My parents (in their early 50's in the case of two, early sixties for one), are much younger than my own grandparents were. Physically, aesthetically etc.

Of course it is always sad when someone dies, regardless of age. But someone born in 1941 dying age 77 is not "young". And people born in 1961 could reasinly expect to live to their late 80's no issue.

My maternal grandmother is the model for how I hope I'll age, my paternal grandmother is my worst nightmare. They were born in the same year. The latter has lost a couple of major senses at random when she was relatively young, the former is in rude health.

YABVVVU for your use of a line of commas in the subject of this post. You CANNOT use commas like that - EVER.

I do kind of get your point about the topic. My grandparents all died when I was a child and now I'm middle aged when people around me lose grandparents I just think they were bloody lucky to have them for so long and don't get why people act so shocked. BUT that's an internal thing, you know? Outwardly, I offer condolances and sympathy. Same when a celeb dies - I just think of their family. I don't start a thread airing my views about the grief of others.

My mum is 77, fit as a fiddle, and I'd consider it very unexpected and a bloody tragedy if she died.

I am 47 with 5 year old twins plus 2 more not yet teenage DC yet so very much wrapped up in primary school world....30 years left before I die a non tragic death of old age (and some people would think I've had a good innings if I make it another 23 years).

What a cheery thought to go to bed on.

My Mother in Law died last week, she was 91 and her death certificate says she died of heart failure, with a contributing factor being "the frailty of old age" I thought that was rather fitting.

I agree with you OP, yes it's always going to be a sad and somber time when someone old dies but it's definitely not 'devastating', it's devestating when children and young people die because they never got the chance to fully experience life. I just can't get to worked up over old people dying especially when they've had such a successful one at that aswell.

People dont die of old age.

If I died today (in my twenties) of pneumonia then there would be a part on the certificate showing the contributing factors because it's unusual to die of pneumonia this young.

If I died in my seventies however, they might say that I died of pneumonia because of "old age". Because an older person's body is less likely to recover from it, there would be no need for a further investigation, so "old age" could be written on the report. But I still would have died of pneumonia, not being old.

I kind of agree op, when Bruce Forsyth died some minor celeb was quoted as saying how shocked they were at the news. I thought how can it be a surprise that someone his age would die.

Although, I do think 77 doesn't seem that old now, which makes it all the more shocking that the life expectancy of a man from the East End of Glasgow is about 67.

79 is the current life expectancy for men. Men in rich areas live longer. Men in poor areas die much sooner. Which is why I suspect MN generally seems to think that it is normal to live fit and healthy into your 90s

The average life expectancy is around 82 years but as its an average some are a lot younger and some quite a lot older.

Most older people have a number of conditions when they die and its hard to isolate one issue as the cause of the death - hence the use of old age or the frailty of old age (as with my mother last year). The average older person has 4 or 5 chronic conditions of which coronary obstructive pulmonary disease (which includes emphysema) is one - sadly the major cause is smoking. In her case the cause was very clear.

I dont really get the profile given to her death but then I'm not a Corrie fan. Wait till you see Prince Phillip or the Queen go - they will drive us potty with the coverage of it. Lets see what they say then...