Dave's thread on smoking cessation got me to thinking about life expectancy in general. I found several calculators on the web but this one seemed to be the best. Calculate your life expectancy, state it, and list the top thing(s) you could change to extend your life:
I'll be 43 next month, and this test tells me that I'll make it to 71, but could live longer if I:
Cut back on stress
Stop drinking caffinated coffee
Take an aspirin a day
Wear more sunscreen
Floss more
Eat less processed meat
Eat less red meat
Stop taking my multivitamin with iron
Do cancer sel-checks
Get checked for diabetes
Lower my blood pressure (which I always thought was in the normal range)
If I make it to 71, I'll count my blessings. My grandfather died at 48, my dad at 61 and one of my brothers at 56. Family history does not bode well for me.
86. could raise by 3 years if i was married, 2 more if i took aspirin daily (although there aren't recommendations to take aspirin for otherwise healthy people under 40... so i wasn't planning on starting until then), +1 year for flossing, and would go up half a year if i could find an inexpensive multivitamin that doesn't have iron in it.
so an aspirin a day and flossing will have similar long-term benefits for me as getting married...
I could probably up that number if I wasn't completely overwhelmed by my entire life at the moment. I had my annual check up last week and my NP commented on my acne breakout, which I informed her is how my body reacts to stress. So she asked me what was so stressful in my life. After hearing the list she agreed it was a hell of a lot to be dealing with - and I had even left things out.
The analysis also chastised me for being a bad daughter and living so far away from my family. To which I say "too damn bad", because I have no desire to leave Colorado. I had been considering a move back to Chicago in a few years, but after yesterday's newsflash I think that maintaining my physical distance from certain non-family persons is of paramount importance to my mental health.
(although there aren't recommendations to take aspirin for otherwise healthy people under 40
The aspirin recommendation is silly. First off I am allergic to it, and my blood pressure is perfect so why would I need to take an aspirin. I look at sites like this just as fun and amusement, you really can't put any stock in it. My mother died at age 58 from cancer, she didn't smoke or drink. Same thing could happen to me!
