# Does your longevity have its own world? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-longevity-have-its-own-world/778157 "2017-01-25T16:58:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-longevity-have-its-own-world/778157/61 "2017-01-27T23:03:06Z")
If you want to do only one thing that will help you to live a long time, that one thing would be: Don’t fall down. Really, it’s just about that simple. It’s _amazing_ how the decline starts in many people following their first really good fall. The body just never recovers. So, live to be 75 the old fashioned way: don’t smoke, weigh an appropriate amount, don’t die in a car wreck, don’t get cancer. Then, spend the next 20 years not falling & you’re golden!! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2017, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-longevity-have-its-own-world/778157/62 "2017-01-27T23:40:42Z")
> [@DrForrester](#): > > If you want to do only one thing that will help you to live a long time, that one thing would be: Don’t fall down. Really, it’s just about that simple. Yep, that’s what got [Robert Atkins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Atkins_%28nutritionist%29). All that concern about diet, then he fell down and broke his crown, and his company came tumbling after. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-longevity-have-its-own-world/778157/63 "2017-01-28T00:57:45Z")
If you fall just miss the ground. It’s how you fly. (Apologies to Douglas Adams.) Interesting factoid from [here](https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p95-16-1.pdf), pg 35: > [@](#): > > In the United States, for example, life expectancy at age 65 has increased from 11.9 years in 1900–1902 to 19.1 years in 2009. Life expectancy at age 80 over the same time period also almost doubled from 5.3 years to 9.1 years … Some changes at even older ages in the even shorter time frame of 1972 to 2010 ([from census.gov](https://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p25-1140.pdf) pg 3) > [@](#): > > The survival gains for those turning 85 have also been impressive. In 1972, the average time to live for someone turning 85 was 5.5 years. By 2010, this had risen to 6.5 years—a net gain of 1 year. Similar trends have been observed in almost all developed nations. … ---
**Author:** ![Emily\_Litella](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emily_litella/32/3370_2.png) [@Emily\_Litella](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emily_Litella)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-longevity-have-its-own-world/778157/64 "2017-01-28T02:14:46Z")
I have a plan: move to a Blue Zone, exercise regularly, eat lots of vegatables, stay out of the sun, have lots of sex, keep learning, if I see a bus coming down the road run the other way, don’t worry and don’t take things too seriously. That should buy me a few more days. I’ll get cracking on this tomorrow. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-your-longevity-have-its-own-world/778157.md?page=3)