“The vast majority of us have incredible genes to get to our mid to late 80s.” DR. THOMAS PERLS
The majority of Americans needlessly shave 10 years off their lives because they don’t take care of themselves, a top physician has revealed.
Dr. Thomas Perls of the Harvard Medical School also says he was stunned by a new finding that most Americans have no desire to live to the age of 100.
The survey – conducted for the American Association of Retired Persons – shows that, on average, we’d rather call it quits by 91.
“I was struck by the low number of people who want to live to be 100,” Perls said.
“The vast majority of us have incredible genes to get to our mid to late 80s, and we can compress the time that we’re sick to the very end of our lives.”
Perls speculated that people may not want to live to 100 because they aren’t preparing well for old age.
People have poor diets, don’t exercise enough and are living about 10 years less than “our average set of genes would allow us to do,” he said.
Only about 1 in 4 Americans hopes to reach the 100-year milestone, the survey showed.
Official calculations in recent years shows the life expectancy of newborn babies is just over 73 for men and a bit past 79 for women.
Richard Suzman of the National Institute on Aging said that among those who live to age 65, men, on average, live an additional 15 to 16 years, and women an additional 19.
Some demographers place life expectancies for those born today even higher.
The reasons most often given for not wanting to live to 100 were fears about declining health, mentioned by 46 percent, and concerns about not having enough money to support themselves, cited by 38 percent.
Those polled were optimistic about medical advances.
About three-fourths believe there will be cures for cancer, AIDS and Alzheimer’s disease in the next 50 years, and about two-thirds think there will be a cure for heart disease.
The optimism about medical cures is noteworthy, said Constance Swank, research director for AARP, the nation’s largest advocacy group for people over 50.
“Older respondents were more optimistic than younger respondents,” she said.
“Older respondents have seen medical breakthroughs for diseases like polio and tuberculosis.”