Comment by ta1243

Comment by ta1243 3 days ago

5 replies

My nan made it to 92 without any mental issues, but then deteriorated significantly over the course of 18 months, forgetting she'd ever been married, had kids, etc, just reverted to believing she was a teenager who wanted to go home to her parents (in a house which was destroyed in ww2)

She couldn't look after herself was was forced into care by the courts. Since going into a home she's physically never been fitter, but mentally she's not the person she was 10 years ago -- it's not that she's changed personality, it's as if her memory of the last 80 years was wiped.

sarchertech 3 days ago

That’s terrible, but you never know when or if the decline is going to happen, so if you pick an arbitrary cutoff you’ll have killed people who had plenty of good years left.

Many people die suddenly with no decline at all.

  • ta1243 2 days ago

    It's an interesting thing. Aside from the constant complaints she's being held prisoner she's far happier now than she was 10 years ago, but the person she was no longer exists. How does that factor in to how wishes can be expressed. What is important - the mind or the body?

    Your assertion

    > If you’ve already made it to 90 with no major issues, you’re expected to make it to 95 and you could make easily live to 100

    Doesn't really hold up, either in my anecdote (life) or in data

    In the UK 70% of men aged 90 today will die before being 95. Most will die before turning 94. Women have about 40% chance of making it to 95.

    • sarchertech 2 days ago

      Sorry I was a year off for US data.

      The expected life span is 4 years not 5 at 90.

      https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4c6.html

      • ta1243 a day ago

        So at 90 most people will have died by 95, and those that don't a significant proportion have severely life limiting health events, both mental and physical (strokes, heart attacks, falls etc)

        What happens to 90 year olds in America that need a few weeks in ITU and a couple of months on a warn from a stroke when they can't pay?

        • sarchertech 20 hours ago

          Sure most will have died but the majority will make it to 94.

          Most 95 year olds also don’t have dementia.

          My point isn’t that getting old doesn’t suck. It’s that you have a good chance of having several years of good quality of life at 90.

          >What happens to 90 year olds in America that need a few weeks in ITU and a couple of months on a warn from a stroke when they can't pay?

          America has socialized healthcare for people over 65, so the government pays for it.