3 ms·
For what it's worth -- an anecdotal as tentative counterpoint: my mentor in my teenage years, an academic and just an excellent man, was an avid cyclist with a
by shaboi 8y ago
For what it's worth -- an anecdotal as tentative counterpoint: my mentor in my teenage years, an academic and just an excellent man, was an avid cyclist with a diet that supported said hobby. To the extent that he rode daily and would cycle from around lake Michigan every other year. He repaired and built ham radios in his basement, next to his de facto bike repair shop. He was a socialite and happily married. This is how he spent his days.
Yet he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at 72, six months after mild symptoms started appearing. He passed less than two years later, and his personality & mind a year before that.
Just six years before that he was detailing vector calculus proofs with me at his dinner table.
I try not to be too cynical but I just can't help thinking of him and his bitter end when reading about these albeit preventative measures.
- joewee 8y agoIs it possible the onset would have been earlier without the lifestyle? 72 is late, isn’t it?
- copperx 8y agoYes, 72 is late onset. I don't understand why OP is cynical. There is a big difference between getting Alzheimer's at 50 and 72. If exercise and other measures give me an extra 22 years of productive life, I'll do them, whatever they are
- coolbeanboi223 8y agoDepends on who is talking, my grandfather ate healthy and exercised nearly his entire life and lived to be 96 before he started getting Alzheimer's and died a few years later. I think most people would consider my grandfather to be a near optimal outcome in terms of lifespan and keeping your mind nearly intact until you are very very old. The number you are citing isn't even average lifespan in US for instance (78 currently). If you take out most of the things which are out of our control from that average, or things which cause disproportionate amounts of negative entropy on your body and recalculate it (things like homicide, suicide, accidental death, people who smoke profusely, people who drink to excess, people with severe mental health issues, etc etc) the number is much much higher.
- Ensorceled 8y agoI'm not sure why you are so cynical, my Aunt died of Alzheimer's in her late 50s. Maybe all that activity, staying mentally and physically active, delayed your mentor's symptoms by 15-20 years?