Who Wants to Live 14 Extra Years?
When radio was in its infancy in the late 1920s and early 1930s a couple of fellows known as the Happiness Boys were popular. Billy Jones and Ernie Hare lived up to their sobriquet but wouldn't make a hit today because cheerfulness is no longer fashionable on radio. They still sound good to me, though, when I listen to them on audio tape every few months.
One of their numbers included a short skit in which a man asked his doctor if he'd live to a ripe old age. The doctor said something like, "H'mm, do you smoke?"
"No."
"Do you drink?"
"No."
"Do you eat foods that aren't good for you?"
"No."
"Do you chase wild women?"
"No."
"Well, then why in the world would you want to live to a ripe old age?"
This came to mind after reading the latest study, this one from the University of Cambridge in England. It claims that if you don't smoke, drink to moderation, eat lots of fruits and vegetables and exercise regularly you will get an extra 14 years of life. Not 15 or 13, they've narrowed it down to 14.
Chances are that sometime in the near future Oxford will release a study refuting the claim of its arch rival. That's the way it always is with these reports that began in the 1960s. First it was bacon, then coffee that would finish you off. Since then one study or another has warned us that eating something, drinking something or doing something would be the death of us all. It seems they have covered everything possible and now are falling back on what to do rather than what not to do.
I've mentioned before that all my friends and acquaintances who gave up everything and took up jogging are now dead. The few who didn't, and I'm among them, are still kicking, and so far not the bucket. That brings to mind a doctor we met in Munich, a cancer specialist,who said he tells patients 55 or over, "Whatever you've done that got you this far, keep doing it."
At the ripe old age of 82 I say amen to that. We're all going to come to the end of the line, some sooner and some later. While we're still around, quality should take precedent over quantity, at least that's the way I've always seen it.
posted by Dick Stodghill | 1/09/2008 10:49:00 AM
1 Comments:
Yeah well, statistics are damned liars! I always heard that most accidents happen within a mile of the home, yet every accident I ever got into was in another city! I figured once I got past that mile, I could just drive like I was 16 again!
They also told me that the average life span of a tech sergeant after he retired was less than a year. Ha, I beat that, but then, only by a few weeks. Turned out I was allergic to bees...something I had never dealt with until after I left the sterile military bases and moved into the country! Fortunately, the medics brought me back to life. (but it hurt).
You can die from a lot of things. I believe you can die from eating mustard since all my friends got into car accidents when driving home from Octoberfest. Must be the mustard...statistics prove that 95% of all accident victims had been eating mustard in the week prior to piling up.
(or was that pickles.....?)
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I read every word you write Stodgehill, and power to ya!
I rarely post anything, you don't want to hear from me, but you have brightened up my day for some months now.
Must go now though, I think my wife is trying to kill me...she is serving mustard pickles for supper.
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