Montavi

The oldest person in the world dies at age 114.

Eugenie Blanchard, a French nun who held the Guinness Book of Records title for world’s oldest person died yesterday. Born on Feb. 16, 1896 on Saint Barthelemy,  she lived for many years in the nearby Dutch Antilles island of Curacao and spent the last 30 years of her life in the Saint Barthelemy hospital.

So it’s true. Human beings are living longer than ever before. Great Stuff!
However I would like to point out one key message from this newscast – she spent the last 30 years of her life in a hospital!

Just two nights ago I watched an interesting, but slightly disturbing documentary (On ABC on-line cause we still don’t have a TV in the house – see No More TV) entitled ‘In The End’ where Dr Charlie Corke,  an Australian intensive care doctor, explores moral and ethical questions about ongoing life-support for our elderly.

Eugenie Blanchard was alive for 114 years, but possibly only really ‘living’ for 84 of those years  – we have no idea of her quality of life during those last 30 years, but regardless, would you like to spend the last 3 decades of your life in a  hospital???
The documentary and this latest news headline suggest that life expectancy is being propped up by medical science rather than through preventative health. What sort of future does that indicate for us as we age?

Between 1946 and 1964, 79 million babies were born around the globe and they are all approaching middle and later life. With obesity epidemics, decreased ozone, increased stress and more sedentary lifestyles, we can only wonder why there is not more urgency around improving long term health with a preventative approach.

Perhaps it’s the power of the huge pharma companies, who’s very existence relies upon us taking medicine, aka the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach, which is the driving force behind such apathy.
All indications are that if nothing changes, the health industry may be crushed under the weight of the massive numbers of dying Baby Boomers who may live for up to 30 years in a hospital bed.

The trouble is, most Baby Boomers today are living with degenerative disease already, they just mask it by medicine today, that will become an ICU case in the future. It seems to be totally acceptable that we increase our intake of drugs as we age. “I’ve got a problem, so I’ll take something to fix it”. What if we started using preventative supplements and lifestyle programs, that help restore, renew and revitalize our own body’s systems so that we didn’t get sick?

The question is this. During their lives, Baby Boomers changed the face of every economic, social and political landscape as they passed through it. How much more clout can this generation have when it comes to ageing better? How long before the demand for drugs to cure age related degeneration, becomes a demand for a preventative approach that ensures we don’t spend the last decades of our lives being kept alive, in a hospital.