I'd say that lots of kids and infants dying in the past dragged down the average to seem comparatively low compared to today. Of those who lived past 18, I'd wa

I'd say that lots of kids and infants dying in the past dragged down the average to seem comparatively low compared to today. Of those who lived past 18, I'd wager most adults lived almost as long as today unless an infection or simple mechanical injury happened. Cancer, Alzheimer's, CHD, diabetes' complications and pneumonia gets most people these days. If you live long enough these days, either your heart will give out, your circulatory system will leak and you'll die from shock, you'll get pneumonia or an infection. Finally, the vast majority of end-of-life operations are worse than nothing at all by worsening quality-of-life... hospice is better in most circumstances. PS: follow the holistic/comprehensive list of preventative lifestyle changes for Alzheimer's so you can go out with your mind as intact as possible and stay fit/able-bodied to where you don't need long-term care (LTC). As an example, the grandpa of that young guy from that show Gold Rush; what a full- and active-life that guy had.