RetirementHomes.com - End of Life

Will humans ever live to a thousand years old?

aadmin — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:41:18 +0000

Right now, the human race is experiencing the longest average life expectancies ever recorded. Based on world averages, a baby born today can expect to live to nearly 70 years old. If that doesn’t sound particularly impressive to a Canadian or American audience, perhaps this statistic might: in the middle ages, a baby born in the developed world could expect to live to, on average, about 30 years old.

Although life expectancies feature an average lifespan, the numbers don’t necessary tell the entire story. As recently as the 1750s in England, as many as 75% of children died before they reached five years old, dramatically lowering the ‘overall’ life expectancy. As a result, the low life expectancy numbers did not necessarily reflect that people died younger; rather, it reflected the fact that many people died very young.

Today, other than the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, infant mortality is low, and most deaths occur after the age of 65.
And while life span rates have increased dramatically over the course of the last few hundred years, some experts say humanity has only touched the tip of the iceberg.

Aubrey de Grey, a researcher at the University of Cambridge, is a well-known proponent of lifespan extension, meaning humans will be able to live to the age of 150, 200, or even one thousand years.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iYpxRXlboQ

According to de Grey, while scientific advancement is moving forward, the biggest challenge to extended life spans is what he calls the “pro-aging trance,” where most people assume aging – and death – is a natural part of the life cycle, and as a result, not something to fight against, or to fear.

But not all experts are convinced extended life spans are possible.

Dr. Michael Gordon, the Vice President of Medical Services at Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto, one of the world’s largest geriatric care hospitals, told RetirementHomes.com he believes there is a limit to human lifespan.

“I don’t believe the maximum life span of the human species is beyond probably 115 or 120 years,” he said. “What has changed is the life expectancy at birth, as a result of changes in lifestyle, illness, good luck, and healthcare.”

Gordon said he believes each species, including humans, has its own maximum life span, and while humanity has been successfully closing the gap as a result of health and technological advancements, people won’t live longer in the future than they do now.

“I don’t believe for one second about living to 150 or 200 years. I don’t believe it’s built into our biology,” Gordon said.

What do you think? Will human beings ever live to the age of 150, 200 or even one thousand years old? Tell us in the comment section below:

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End of Life

Family and Personal Care

How to Navigate through Living Wills and Senior Emergencies

aadmin — Thu, 02 May 2013 15:40:26 +0000

An increasing number of older people prefer a natural death over being kept alive on a ventilator.

Last winter, an AP story was syndicated across North America about an American pathologist who tattooed a No CPR directive on his chest .

Jillian Megee, Marketing Communications Manager of Medic Alert Foundation, offered a less radical concept of advanced directed management.

Advance Directives

“A Do Not Resuscitate - DNR - and a living will are available on site to first responders and physicians through Medic Alert,” said Megee.

Forms for each state are notarized, and then uploaded on Medic Alert’s files for availability to family and personal physicians. “It’s communicating your treatment. How you want to be treated in an emergency," explained Megee.

Seniors usually wear a Medic Alert, in bracelet or pendant, to alert first responders and physicians about pre-existing conditions, like:

. Alzheimer's disease
. Drug allergies
. Diabetes
. Pacemaker
. Use of anticoagulants

Medic Alerts for seniors are engraved with:

. The most relevant health information
. The 800 number of Medic Alert
. The member’s personal ID number

First responders and health professionals can call Medic Alert's 24/7 "live" call center and receive the member’s full medical record. The family and personal physician are notified.

Alzheimer's/Dementia Related Wandering

Medic Alert has developed an Alzheimer's/Dementia Wandering program in conjunction with the Alzheimer’s Association and local police to safely return home a person with memory loss.

“We’re in close touch with the family,” said Megee. “Any time there’s an emergency, the family is made aware that their loved one has been found and is informed of their location.”

There is some competition for Medic Alert, the pioneer of medical identification tags, since its beginnings in 1953. Universal Medical Data LLC in Phoenix, AZ, has distinguished itself by adding medical history features like USB devices and QR codes implanted into their bracelets and pendants.

Megee said that Medic Alert experimented with these features but found they weren’t always compatible with emergency responders. Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT), like firefighters, didn’t always have computers with them in the field.

The organization has opted for online and mobile apps for first responders who register their smart phones with Medic Alert.

Medic Alert pioneered the space and has built on its impressive non-profit status and infrastructure. There is room for competition, but it may take awhile for others to catch up.

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Family and Personal Care

Gadget Reviews

Learning and Technology

Stimulus bill delays cuts to Medicare, hospice programs saved

aadmin — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:04:09 +0000

With a quick swipe of his pen, President Barack Obama preserved the funding for more than 4,700 hospices around the country that will continue to offer end-of-life services to more than 1.4 million patients and their families.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 included a law that issued a one-year moratorium on Medicare funding cuts, which would have taken away $135 million from hospice facilities in fiscal year 2009.

The law also saved approximately 3,000 jobs of hospice caregivers that were threatened to be this cut this year.

For the past year, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), the Alliance for Care at the End of Life and hospice advocates have worked to overturn a 2008 regulation issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which would have eliminated a key component of the Medicare hospice reimbursement formula.

"It's important that we continue to build upon the momentum that we have now to ensure that patient access is protected in future years by permanently overturning these devastating rate cuts," said J Donald Schumacher, president and CEO of NHPCO.

NHPCO leaders are scheduled to meet with CMS on February 19th to address the one-year moratorium.

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End of Life

End-of-life discussions'may benefit'

aadmin — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 08:24:35 +0000

A study conducted in the US has highlighted the benefits of end-of-life conversations between patients and caregivers.

In news that may be of interest to those seeking skilled nursing care services, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers and their colleagues have discovered that such discussions can lead to an improved quality of life, which is in contrast to traditional doctor advice that claims it could lead to the emotional distress of patients.

According to Eurekalert, the study - which is published in the October issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association - revealed that those who had such talks were more prone to accept terminal illness and therefore opt for care over life-extending treatments.

It was also found that such discussions could aid loved ones and caregivers, as aggressive medication tended to prevent conversation between the two parties.

First author Alexi Wright said: "Overall, patients who received less aggressive care at the end of life were thought to have better quality of life by their family members and other informal caregivers."

Meanwhile, candidates in the ongoing US presidential campaign have been urged by the Tennessee Association of Homes and Services for the Aging to remember long-term care when it comes to their discussions on reforming the current healthcare system.

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End of Life

Doctors Reluctant to Tell Terminally Ill How Long They Have Left

aadmin — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 07:47:04 +0000

According to the New York Times, a recent study indicates that doctors often knowingly provide terminally ill patients with inaccurate assessments of life expectancy.

The study, conducted by the Soros Foundation Project and Robert Wood Johnson Scholars Program, in conjunction with the National Institute of Health, found that less than 40% of doctors would offer an honest estimate of how long they expect a terminally ill patient to survive.

Though researchers did not ask doctors why they opted for such an approach, the study’s organizers speculated that doctors wanted to keep their patients’ spirits high. A doctor consulted by the New York Times suggested that doctors might also be reluctant to provide life expectancy estimates because such prognoses are "inexact" and given too much significance by patients.

In their findings, researchers contended that honesty would be a better policy, because it would give patients a clearer idea of how much time they have left to arrange finances and visit with close family members and friends.

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End of Life