CREEDE HINSHAW: It’s quality of life, not longevity, that counts

I have long been fascinated with the factors that could contribute to a person living to be at least 100 years old.

The Wall Street Journal (7/171/24) carried an article “Live Until 100? Our Chances are Slim” by Amy Dockser Marcus, who described the debate between two scientists regarding whether humans will ever live to be 150 years old. One is convinced it will happen while the other believes we’re now close to our upper limit. The two men have a wager on it, the money deposited in an account to be given to the winning heirs in 150 years.

Nowhere does the story mention quality of life.

A recent edition of The Economist (6/22/24) filled in that gap in an article “Growing Old Together” that identified the region in the world with the highest percentage of elderly people. Want to guess which nation has the longest lifespan? You might be surprised. It is Spain, coming in at 85.5 years. (The average Dane is in second at 83.5.).

The tier of Southern Mediterranean nations as a group sports the highest averages: Greece, Portugal, Italy, and Spain. The article went on to conclude that this longevity has very little to do with these people eating a “Mediterranean Diet.” Far from it, most of them have lived on a rather poor diet. Furthermore, according to the article, these long-living Spaniards smoke more tobacco and drink more alcohol than the average European. In addition, Spaniards are gluttons when it comes to cocaine.

So why are these Southern Europeans living so long? It is apparently not related to diet and although exercise might play some role, the missing piece is quite possibly a very strong web of relationships. Over 75% of Spaniards say they feel “very” or “fairly” supported by relationships with others. Their cities and towns are walkable and the city plazas are places for social interaction. A glass of wine, a cigarette and a good conversation, maybe.

Most of us will conclude that length of years is not nearly as important as quality of life. I’ve never met a person who has said, “I want to live to be 103, even if the last 15 years of my life are bedridden in a nursing home.” It’s what goes into a life … it’s what goes into each day … that counts far more than chronology.

Going one step further, for me at least, quality of life involves belief in and faithfulness to God as well as a generous love for people. The second flows out of the first. Such attributes may not enable me to live one second longer, but they will make an incredible difference in quality of life.

Give me a relationship with the living God, a healthy, sustained relationships with other people and a love and respect for this planet, and the number of years remaining becomes unimportant. I really wouldn’t care to live to 150, anyway, if I’d outlived all my friends by half a century.