I've always been interested in longevity, why some people live longer than their close relatives. I've seen men die before the age of 65 or 70, while their wives and sisters lived up to the age of 85 or even 90. Last week, a distant male relative aged 55 kicked the bucket, but his father is still around even though he's over 80. The father's three brothers died before they attained the age of 70, and (like him) they were chain smokers and consumed mostly unhealthy food.
I have another male relative approaching 80 who has been a heavy smoker, yet he's healthy (his wife and her two sisters died in their early sixties). So what is it that makes some people live long, while others are not so lucky?
Perhaps it's hereditary. But again, in the case of the 55 year old cited above, the father is still alive, so heredity can't be the deciding factor. It's possible that the father spent a lot of time walking when he was young (most people didn't have motorbikes or cars in those days), so his heart is healthy.
In my case, two doctors warned me that I wouldn't live past forty or fifty. One of them died at the young age of 45 or 50, while I'm still around, approaching 82.
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