Wednesday, 24 August 2011
-
Ridiculous? You Can Smoke, Drink and Not Exercise to Live Long?
If you want to live longer, you have to maintain a healthy lifestyle.... right? Recent research at Yeshiva University claims that this may not be true. In fact, people who made it to 95 were just as likely to live long as their shorter lived peers as they lived a lifestyle of drinking, smoking, and not exercising. Sound ridiculous?These kinds of information are the ones that make us wonder how elite athletes such as Lance Armstrong could be victims of cancer. And we wonder, if it's not because of their lifestyle, what could the factor for longevity be?
It turns out that these people who live to ages of 95-109 (and were not affected by the drinking, smoking and lack of exercise) got to the age by their genetic blessings. They had longevity coded into their DNA, which protected them from the effects of unhealthy living.
So if it's our DNA that purely dictates our fate, is it okay to not exercise and not maintain a healthy diet?
The answer is no, scientists say. The people who don't have the Tuck Everlasting-like genes, your lifespan can be drastically modified by eating right, moving your body regularly, and drinking in moderation.
How do you maintain a healthy lifestyle? Is it pointless to live healthy if "DNA determines your fate?"
RecommendRelated Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to healthkicker's Healthkicker Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in healthkicker's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: StacyLee
- About Me: Currently a student studying pharmacy-- love to read about health and (try to) maintain healthy habits while being on campus! I'm the girl with the 1L water bottle in the side of my backpack and a coffe tumbler in the other. So maybe I'm counteracting some health benefits... but I'm trying my best!
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 115 Views: 0 302699 Comments: 0 2688 View all posts by StacyLee
Comments (24)
i think if you're too serious about everything and all that shit, it'll stress you out. like, if you WANT to smoke, but prevent yourself, if you WANT to drink, but prevent yourself and you're ALWAYS stressing about being thin... you'll die faster.
@skeletalxaddiction@xanga - Good point, I think that's also another reason why people struggle with diets and binge-eating, etc. Thanks!
@StacyLee - plus... i smoke and sometimes i drink, sometimes i smoke weed and sometimes when i smoke weed it's because i want to release the panic attack that's building up inside. ...and this makes me HAPPY. i think that's more important than stressing out because you HAAAAAVE to quit smoking/drinking/eating like a pig. if being HEALTHY makes you happy, kudos! if it doesn't, then stressing yourself aaaaaall the time isn't going to help you... people who say 'sometimes you have to give up happiness for health' are really bullshitting themselves, because... what's the point of being 'healthy' if you're not happy? what's teh point of living if you're not at least content with the way you are?
just my 2c.
Living long is all about genes anyway. Taking care of oneself just ensures you won't be as likely to die BEFORE the genes say it's time to go, whatever age that is. Healthy living is pretty much about avoiding preventable diseases that would cut our lives short. If I die of natural causes (no disease involved) in my 70s or 80s no one's going to say, "If she should have biked an extra mile everyday she'd probably be 90!"
Hmm...well, maybe I'm not doing so bad then genetics-wise because a lot of my family members have lived to their 80's and 90's. My great-grandma lived to 94, my grandpa lived to 97, and my other grandpa lived to I think 87. And even though he had cancer, he kept his ornery sense of humour until the bitter end :)
It's so weird how some people just die really young for no apparent reason or get cancer even though they were the pinnacle of perfect health. Just yesterday a guy in my state died from a heart attack at age 32 after going for a run. He was a police officer and was in great physical shape, and he died at freaking 32?? So when I hear stuff like that, I start to think it's not worth pulling my hair out over being perfectly healthy because some factors are out of your control.
@skeletalxaddiction@xanga - Amen! I agree you :)
This reminds of of that 103 year old dude I saw an interview with a couple years ago. When asked how he lived so long he said "Cigarettes, women and booze."
being blessed with longevity does not equate to being bullet-proof from the onset of all diseases/disorders out there. you still have to maintain a healthy lifestyle. better to be safe than sorry.
Where can I buy these magic pants?
I always wondered about the great aunts and uncles of mine who chain smoked, never moved, and made into their 90's when people said "IF YOU SMOKE YOU WILL DIE YOUNG AND SAD AND OF LUNG DISORDERS." Whatever.
VIVA WINSTON CHURCHILL, the bane of every doctor's existence.
Everything in moderation.
^ life motto. It applies to literally everything in life.
This type of study is extremely vague, considering there are so many different amounts - and combinations of the amounts - that a person smokes, drinks and exercises (or doesn't). Then age comes into play, as in when/in what periods of their lives they smoked/drank/didn't exercise. There are probably other vague factors as well.
And even if you could live long with a crappy lifestyle, what're you gonna do with a 100-year-long life if your health is shit? If you live life constantly damaging your health and still remain alive for that long, you'll likely wish you were dead by the time you're 60 if not earlier.
I watched a PBS special about this exact thing. According to Icelandic tribes, I'm going to live forever.
You also have to consider that maybe these drinkers/smokers had less stress in their lives? Drinking and smoking will do that, you know. Exercising and constantly worrying about your health does not.
When it comes to smoking, drinking, not exercising, it's not, to me at least, about the longevity but the quality. If you smoke, drink excessively, and never exercise (and possibly become obese?), your quality of life will most certainly be decreased, no matter how long you live.
@Livin_All_I_Do@xanga - I
wouldn't call having an addiction less stressful...people who smoke
cigarettes aren't less stressed, they just use cigarettes to cope with
their stress and get stressed when they want a cigarette and can't smoke
one.
It's just luck. When I did my clinicals for my CNA, there was a 105 year old woman that smoked. Had been smoking for over 40 years.
Here's to hoping we all get pretty lucky and live long lives. ;)
I just don't understand why anyone would WANT to live that long. I'll pass.
I was a bit choked up when I read this post. You see, my mom has never smoked, very rarely drank, ate well, and excercised every day and she was diagnosed with Non-Small Cell Lung cancer and Type II diabetes a month ago. Not to mention, she has a tumor in her brain correlated with the lung cancer. I don't know. I'm still trying to get over the fact life is unfair sometimes.
This is very interesting. You notice that some people just won't die, even though they are soooo old. Then, there are others who's lifestyles end up killing them at a young age. Genetics probably has a lot to play in it (see Betty White) but environmental factors obviously play a large role in the majority of people's lives.
Yeah, I mean evidence of this is everywhere. My grandmother hates fruit and vegetables and claims that drinking water "makes her sick." Her diet mostly consists of bread, pasta and wine. She is currently 87 and takes no medications and has only ever had to go to the doctor for a broken hip when she was in a car accident. Conversely, there are always those stories about the fit, active, healthy guys who drop dead at 50 from a heart attack. Sometimes it's just the luck of the genetic draw.
i think the article also fails to mention the QUALITY of life. sure, you can smoke cigs/weed, drink copiously, and never exercise and still live to be 95, but what about your quality of life? is this same person fighting lung congestion and liver problems, or is this person still healthy despite their lifestyle decisions? i think it's still important to eat healthy and exercise well. i'd rather die at 50 and had lived quite comfortably, than die at 95 coughing my lungs out.
ha, love the Tuck Everlasting reference
Well, honestly I believe in fate. If it has been well written for me that I will continue to live until a ripe old age, then so be it. I can smoke, drink, eat all that I want. However, if it is fated that I will die young, then no matter how much exercises I do and how stern I am with my diet, I will still die prematurely. The point is for us to accept what life has to offer us instead of doing something against our interests.