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Comment by dexwiz | Hacker News Reader

Sitting around May Speed Up Cognitive Decline.

Both my Grandfathers retired shortly before seventy. One sat down in his Chair and did not get up. He ignored his health, and passed within 10 years.

The other is highly active in his community and church, still gardens, and travels constantly. He is in his mid 80s with no sign of slowing down. Barring a major health incident, he will live well into his 90s like his mother, and may pass 100.

Not doing anything is bad for your health, both physical and mental. The effects are exacerbated when you are older, but are still prevalent when younger.

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I don't mean to be rude, but your living grandfather is very fortunate. Your deceased grandfather lived an average lifespan for someone in most of the developed world. I don't know ... a great deal about the background of your anecdote, but I would hesitate to overextrapolate, though. Sometimes the lack of activity is the manifestation of the underlying health issue that contributes to mortality.

Its definitely anecdata. My surviving Grandfather has lost two wives (both active as he was) to cancer, so his life style alone does not confer longevity.

That does not mean the will to live is not real, and those without out it fade much faster.

And sometimes you have poor genes for atherosclerosis. Exercise is still a miracle drug, but I think the young underestimate the physical disabilities that inevitably come with age. The will to live may be correlated with mean survival years because of the same underlying health issues.

That’s a really good point. I can’t imagine someone’s will to live staying strong if they’re in constant severe pain from accumulated bone/joint/nerve issues.

My dad lead a VERY active lifestyle - triathlons, squash, swimming, working on building sites, etc. What reward did he get for all that exercise and activity? Replacement hips, painful knees and developing spinal issues (spinal stenosis I think, but can’t quite remember off the top of my head) that he’s been told to live with until he can’t stand the pain anymore because surgery is incredibly risky and might not help or make things worse.

He does have great cardiovascular health though and he still works at his own business, learned how to use an iPhone, etc. Still walks a ridiculous number of steps a day that puts me to shame. The mechanical issues do make it more difficult than it used to be for him though.

My grandfather is passing 94 and exactly as you describe. He wants to see us all have his great grand kids, and says he’s not going anywhere until that happens.

It motivated him to completely alter his diet when the doctor said so, take up physical therapy when the doctor said so, and all manner of other healthy life choices that most people just wouldn’t bother with so late in life.

Good reason to live is a massive part of making choices that keep you living.

In my experience grandparents live longer than “average” unless they’ve done something obviously harmful like smoking or sitting all day.

My great grandmother just died at 90 and really what killed her was being forced to stop walking, she lost so much bone mass that the increased Gs in elevator buckled her shin.

One of my grandpas was an alcoholic, did not much more than sit around, drink beer, and go out to eat pizza and roasted chicken about once a week for the last couple of decades of his life. He lived until 100.

The other had one of his lungs shot by tuberculosis, but despite that, smoked his entire life. Not particularly active either after retirement. He lived until his late 80s (EDIT: just checked, 85 actually).

EDIT: Obviously staying active is important for good health but anecdotes are not super informative.

I envy your genetics.

There is a very strong genetic component to life span.

Or, so I tell myself, as almost all of the men in my family have lived to be over 100 years old, so I have hope that I may do the same.

If it's not the genetics, then it's the life habits- which you can inherit too, so take note of how the men in your family lived :)

They were largely hard working, hard drinking, hard smoking guys -- loggers, railroad workers, etc.

Alas, that's not the lifestyle for me.

> One sat down .... The other is highly active

I've noticed this kind of thing as well, but I'm really worried that we have cause and effect backwards.

The one who sat and did nothing did that because of poor health, rather than poor health because he sat.

Agreed, and it could have been poor mental health too, or alone, that made the difference.

Many many things are spirals of positive feedbr, not cause vs effect . Ask anyone who has yoyoed exercise habits or diets.

My dad always refers to his body in a similar manner to how one would refer to a car, I.E. “too much mileage on me”, “I walked a lot so now my knees are worn out”. I wonder if their generation has a more simplistic view of our bodies as mechanical things.

The joints do get worn out with the age tho..

What's the best way to preserve them

Never use them.

Truthfully I believe it's strength training that actually helps keep them up. Could be wrong.

IMHO. Moderate strength, moderate cardio, Moderate mobility. Mobility in particular may improve blood irrigation on the joints and help regeneration.

I am only in my mid 30s, but losing 20lbs, switching from heavy weight lifting to more cardio/light weight training, taking a few supplements, long stretching sessions and sauna sessions have me feeling more spry than I did when I was 21. Not sure how long that will keep up, but I don't intend to give into inactivity without a fight :p.

Keep them active with loads that aren't too heavy.

A mobile lifestyle is good, obesity is bad.

From what I’ve seen it seems more likely that joints take constant low level wear but at young ages the repair mechanisms easily compensate for everyone but extreme athletes, while at older ages it takes much less to overwhelm the repair mechanisms and start doing long term damage.

It's not like entropy is a relic of the past.

Sometimes I imagine a future where you van replace parts of your body. A knee, hip or ankle replacement, and a yearly revision after 70 (like a cara), and we could live until 200.

Probably this thinking comes from "ghost in the shell" mixed with Asimov's books.

Brand new skin please!

It's sad to see people you love doing this. You cannot equate retirement with not working. Work in things that you do enjoy and always wanted but didn't have the time, or get a hobby.

How do you know the first one that sat around already had bad cellular health and that's why he was less active?

Likewise, maybe the latter had great cellular health and it enabled him to be more active without feeling awful.

> Barring a major health incident, he will live well into his 90s like his mother, and may pass 100.

You just stated that he’s genetically predisposed, but you believe lifestyle choices are the main driver here?

From what I hear my grandfather was in a downward spiral until he bought a new house, made some improvements, and then went back to work part time. He was pretty sassy until the big C got him.

Which makes things dicey for retirees with post-polio syndrome. Moving keeps them mentally sharp, but also speeds post-polio progression (as I understand it).

That type of sitting happens when you ruined your hips and back with physical labor.

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