M
Marge
Nothing to do with heart issues (at least not directly) but I thought this was a fascinating interview with Dr. Nir Barzilai, a prominent researcher in longevity, in Science Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/24/health/24CONV.html
Unsurprisingly -- Barzilai thinks it's the genes. As a person with family that tends to longevity I have long been interested in this subject.
My parents died in their 90's, all my grandparents also lived into late 80s or 90s except my father's father, whom I never knew -- he got pneumonia prior to the discovery of penicillin and died in his 50's. None of these folks had particularly good medical care or even contemplated what we think of as a healthy life-style. Especially not my mom's family in East Texas with their fried food (bacon grease and Crisco!).
Oh, and none of them even came close to suffering from anything like dementia or Alzheimer's. I remember being back in Texas in my 20's, visiting my grandmother in the morning. She was alert, clever and charming. We went back to our motel & in the afternoon they called and said she had had a stroke, keeled over, & died. No muss, no fuss, no long-drawn out illness.
Of course I share these genes, another reason this heart failure/leaky valve thing kind of threw me for a loop. (Feeling, hey, this isn't supposed to happen to ME!!!) I don't ever expect to duplicate my parents' record -- but with my repaired non-leaky valve, it will be interesting to see how far I get.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/24/health/24CONV.html
Unsurprisingly -- Barzilai thinks it's the genes. As a person with family that tends to longevity I have long been interested in this subject.
My parents died in their 90's, all my grandparents also lived into late 80s or 90s except my father's father, whom I never knew -- he got pneumonia prior to the discovery of penicillin and died in his 50's. None of these folks had particularly good medical care or even contemplated what we think of as a healthy life-style. Especially not my mom's family in East Texas with their fried food (bacon grease and Crisco!).
Oh, and none of them even came close to suffering from anything like dementia or Alzheimer's. I remember being back in Texas in my 20's, visiting my grandmother in the morning. She was alert, clever and charming. We went back to our motel & in the afternoon they called and said she had had a stroke, keeled over, & died. No muss, no fuss, no long-drawn out illness.
Of course I share these genes, another reason this heart failure/leaky valve thing kind of threw me for a loop. (Feeling, hey, this isn't supposed to happen to ME!!!) I don't ever expect to duplicate my parents' record -- but with my repaired non-leaky valve, it will be interesting to see how far I get.
