To think health and longevity is luck of the draw

[hadenough]

Not entirely, of course. There are obviously things we can all do to be more healthy and active. We all know the most common ones - don't smoke, moderate alcohol intake, eat healthily etc.

Recently, a number of people I know have fell victim to long-term and serious health conditions. They're all people you'd categorise as normal healthwise i.e. not heavy drinkers, a healthy weight etc.

I'm also thinking of some higher profile people who have died recently (such as Rachel Bland), who for all extents and purposes were normal healthy people, who happened to fall victim to terminal illness.

It makes me very sad. But it also makes me appreciate life on a day-to-day basis.

I know what you mean OP. I have been having a lot of health anxiety recently, since Rachael Bland died and seemingly scores of other wonderful people in my Facebook friends list and beyond have been diagnosed with cancer. Part of it is because I'm getting older so it's affecting people I know, who are also getting older I suppose, but it's scary hearing these stories about fit, marathon-running people getting this horrible disease! Is some of it genetic and pre-determined, almost before you're born? It seems ever so unfair and random...:-(

Some genetic, some due to adverse events, some lifestyle.

For example, if you're sexually abused as a kid, you're more likely to get breast cancer.

It's why healthcare has to be free at the point of need, no one chooses to be ill.

though, worry will just stress you out, which is bad for you.

You can tip the odds to varying degrees but there is an aspect of luck involved.

Yes and No.

Getting a specific disease or disability is very often just bad luck. My Dad died in his early 50s of leukaemia. He was slim, fit, ate healthily and exercised regularly. My mum is still alive 10 years later despite having been morbidly obese since her teens, being totally and completely sedentary and having epilepsy, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis.

But I think our general physical and mental health is, to a fairly large degree, controllable (or at least improvable) by lifestyle.

I think we' just do the best we can while, yes realising there's an element of luck involved.

One obvious thing missing from your list is good social relationships: very influential on longevity apparently.

Most doctors would rightly say it was a mixture. My mother like many smokers got empheseyma and died of that and lung cancer. It is hard to deny that smoking mostly 60 a day from about age 14 to mid 70s didn't basically kill her. She wanted to stop but never could and she made sure all of us never smoked. I never even tried a cigarette so she certainly helped us to avoid it.

There will be some luck too eg she had awful back pain at my age - I was just scanning my 1985 diary whereas I seem to have amazing health luck - seen GP once in 12 yars after a ski injury and not even caught a cold for the last 2 years and seamless menopause. So is it luck or that I don't smoke or drink, get a lot of sleep, eat mostly whole foods, drink only water, am not obese or nothing to do with that at all and just pure luck?

@Xenia I agree, it definitely isn't pure luck, there are lots of things we can do to improve our health and contribute towards a healthier long-term outcome, which is brilliant and something we naturally all want.

@OatsBeansBarley - Good social relationships is definitely something very important I omitted. My grandmother always had exceptionally good health, and then aged 80 she moved to another part of the country, had no social connections, and with it her health very rapidly declined. It still upsets me to think about it.

Yeah, some things are just bad luck. I was diagnosed with cancer in my 20s - not a thing I could have done to avoid it.

Absolutely sheer luck.

Well if you think genes with environmental influences are luck of the draw - then yes - and if you don't then no.

And just because someone looks normal and healthy doesn't mean they are.

There are several factors that generally play into longevity, but there is an element of luck/chance too.

My dad was 36 when he did from Meningococcal and ultimately septicaemia. Couldn't have been predicted, planned for, or avoided. Anyone can die at any age from anything.

That being said, nothing appeals to me about living into my 90s and beyond. I've worked in aged care, so have seen what the quality of life is for most people who reach that age: if their mind is still there, their body is gone; if their body is still functioning, their mind is gone. Rarely do they maintain all faculties.

Yes to an extent, sometimes you can do all the right things but still have a stroke in your 40s, or get lung cancer even if you’ve never smoked etc.

I think the best we can do it eat well, exercise, try not too drink too much alcohol or eat too much junk, sleep, avoid smoking if we can and hope for the best - but you need to do the opposite of those things once in a while to enjoy your time here!

Also of course it partly also depends on the genes you’ve inherited

Of course there is a large element of ‘the luck of the draw’ in who gets some serious medical conditions, such as brain tumours or breast cancer. Many are genetically linked, so ‘choose your parents carefully’, as the medics say.

Lifestyle linked conditions such as heart disease, lung cancer and Type 2 diabetes, however, are illnesses which you can choose to dramatically reduce your chances of getting by not smoking, exercising, maintaining a healthy weight, moderating alcohol consumption etc etc.

My DH was very active, walked, hiked and ran up and down mountains never smoked, enjoyed a pint. At 63 he started to fail, started with being a bit unsteady and confused. The last 5 years were hell. This beautiful proud man was so infirm, doubly incontinent and cried to die. He cried because he wanted to go but he didn't want to leave me.
There is no rhyme or reason.
I do think that your card is marked and you have your time. When the number comes up that's it.
There can't be any other reason that I can think of.

It's a mix, isn't it.

Luck of the genetics and pre chance draw.
Poverty
Education
Ability to kick up a fuss. MIL died of cancer at 76. Refused to believe she could be helped with inevitable old age.
And, of course, lifestyle, which may or may not tip the odds in favour of a prolonged healthy life.

The healthiest man I knew- healthy diet, cycled everywhere, didn't smoke, very moderate drinker- dropped dead of a heart attack last year.

My own db- non-drinker, non-smoker, healthy diet, very outdoors person- had a stroke just after his 50th birthday.
His 86yo parents, otoh, are in fine fettle.

Of course there are people who have brought on heart attacks and stroked by unhealthy living. But just living healthily is no guarantee.

A mixture. I knew two children who died of cancer, that was bad luck. And a very healthy man who dropped dead of a heart attack because of an undiagnosed heart condition he was born with. Or a DP of a friend born with a hole in the heart and who has ongoing heart issues.
Then my Aunt who was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer.
But that is why GPs ask you about family history, because that does play a part, and you have no control over that. Other things you do have control over.
But it is about risk. If you live healthily you increase your risk of living to a good age, but there is no guarantee. And the older you get, the more you see that to be true.

Also those talking about menopause, your menopause tends to be similar to your mothers. So if she had an easy time, you probably will, and vice versa.

It’s definitely a mix of several variables,

Wealth
Education
Lifestyle choices
Location
Upbringing

Plus probably a lot more. You are literally a product of your own environment.

The reason Governments focus on lifestyle, as that is the only thing you actually have control over.