Risk of death test

[Dodger]

http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,6119,2-13-1443_1881427,00.html

If you are over 50, this test developed by researchers at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Centre attempts to calculate your risk of death within four years. Of course, it's not foolproof, but the researchers say it can give you a rough idea of your survival chances. The test appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association: 1. Age: 60-64 years old = 1 point; 65-69 = 2 points; 70-74 = 3 points; 75-79 = 4 points; 80-84 = 5 points; 85 and older = 7 points.

2. Male or Female: Male = 2 points.

3. Body-Mass Index: Less than 25 (normal weight or less) = 1 point. (Calculate by multiplying height in centrimetres times height in centimetres; then divide weight in kilogrammes by that total; then multiply the total by 703.)

4. Diabetes: 2 points.

5. Cancer (excluding minor skin cancers): 2 points.

6. Chronic lung disease that limits activities or requires oxygen use at home: 2 points.

7. Congestive heart failure: 2 points.

8. Cigarette smoking in the past week: 2 points.

9. Difficulty bathing/showering because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.

10. Difficulty managing money, paying bills, keeping track of expenses because of a health or memory problem: 2 points.

11. Difficulty walking several blocks because of a health problem: 2 points.

12. Difficulty pushing or pulling large objects like a living room chair because of a health problem: 1 point.



Score:

0 to 5 points = less than a 4% risk of dying; 6-9 points = 15% risk; 10-13 points = 42% risk; 14 or more points = 64% risk.

Note: Researchers say the 1-point penalty for having a body-mass index under 25 (normal weight or less) is based on findings that being underweight is a health risk for elderly people.

[SidC]

Yes, saw this in today's newspaper. Some of it seems plausible, but they lost me with the "good to have BMI over 25." Say what? For people age fifty and over? So this test thinks it would be a good idea if I gained 20 to 25 pounds?

Absolute bs. My bet is they're doing the old confusion between correlation and causation. People with cancer and other life-threatening diseases often experience loss of appetite and subsequent weight loss, either from the disease itself or from the treatments. So if you're still alive and fat at the age of 70, you've got great genes. If you're wasting away, well...

[Dodger]

I got points for being a male and for not being overweight. I've got to gain my lost weight back and get that surgery done!

[ProfGumby]

Yes, saw this in today's newspaper. Some of it seems plausible, but they lost me with the "good to have BMI over 25." Say what? For people age fifty and over? So this test thinks it would be a good idea if I gained 20 to 25 pounds?

Absolute bs. My bet is they're doing the old confusion between correlation and causation. People with cancer and other life-threatening diseases often experience loss of appetite and subsequent weight loss, either from the disease itself or from the treatments. So if you're still alive and fat at the age of 70, you've got great genes. If you're wasting away, well...

Anything that uses the BMI is junk, IMHO. According to the BMI I am Very Obese at my current weight.....What was I at 351 pounds before LC? A Hippo?

Also, there is one that knows theYear, the month, the day, the hour and the minute of my death, and that is my savior, and he aint talkin! Besides, I don't really want to know, do you?

My plan is to stay healthy, be a great husband and Dad, and try and help as many people as I can before I am called to face the last moment of my life. Live like you were dying goes a long way for me. Live each moment as if it was your last is the way I heard it said, that really reached me.

No test, barely suitable for the back page of The Natl Enquirer has my interest.

Enjoy it if you like, but I'll pass.

[respira]

they lost me with the "good to have BMI over 25." Say what? For people age fifty and over?

the reason for this is that when older people get ill and they have inadequate fat reserves to fall back on they succumb more easily.

[BoBoGuy]

Perhaps This Calculator (http://gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/mortality/perl/CalcForm.html) is better?

Life Expectancy Results
Life Expectancy: 87.05
Lower Quartile : 80.16
Median Lifetime: 87.17
Upper Quartile : 93.79

Bo

[Nancy LC]

Life Expectancy Results
Life Expectancy: 89.30
Lower Quartile : 82.61
Median Lifetime: 91.07
Upper Quartile : 97.81

[Dodger]

Life Expectancy: 82.26
Lower Quartile : 75.36
Median Lifetime: 82.55
Upper Quartile : 88.98

I guess that I better get my will updated.

[Needlehole]

Anything that uses the BMI is junk, IMHO.

No test, barely suitable for the back page of The Natl Enquirer has my interest.

Enjoy it if you like, but I'll pass.

I agree with this post; BMI tests aren't a very accurate way of gauging health.

[2bthinner!]

Life Expectancy Results
Life Expectancy: 85.52
Lower Quartile : 78.76
Median Lifetime: 87.65
Upper Quartile : 94.32

Analysis Results
Not smoking is a great choice! Your life expectancy is maximized by not smoking
If you have 2-3 drinks per day, your life expectancy would be -0.56 years longer
If you do not drive, your life expectancy would be 0.03 years longer
If you do not have any stress listed in the table, your life expectancy would be 0.59 years longer
If you become a conditioning exercizer, your life expectancy would be 0.51 years longer
If you consume all 5 types of food everyday, your life expectancy would be 0.96 years longer
If you do not have any sexual partner, your life expectancy would be 0.00 years longer
If you sleep 7 hours a day, your life expectancy would be 0.41 years longer

If all of the above choices are adopted, your life expectancy would be 1.89 years longer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do have a couple of relatives with heart disease, but both of them smoke like they are breathing! So, even this test has some areas that it's not calculating correctly.

[2bthinner!]

I like this one better! :lol: I was honest in my answers too!

http://www.livingto100.com/

Your calculated life expectancy is 99 years.

Thanks for registering with livingto100.com. Check your email for a verification email from accounts~livingto100.com. In order to come back to the Life Expectancy Calculator and retrieve your answers, you will need to click on the verification link and enter a password.

Proceed to the feedback section where, based on your answers, you will receive feedback on:

* How many years you can add by changing some of your behaviors
* Based upon your age and sex, a suggested to-do list to take to your health care provider
* Advice and helpful links pertaining to each of your answers

You will be able to save your valuable personalized information on your computer, email it to yourself or others, or print it. Click the button below to obtain your personalized feedback!

FEEDBACK

Here is how you can add years to your life expectancy:
+ 0.25 You noted that you don't manage your stress as well as you could. Do a better job and you could add a quarter of a year to your life expectancy
+ 0.5 Minimizing or cutting out your caffeinated coffee consumption completely could provide you with about half a year more in life expectancy
+ 1.0 Ultraviolet rays present in sunlight and tanning beds greatly increase your risk of skin cancer, including melanoma. They also increase wrinkles. Minimizing your sun exposure could add a year to your life expectancy
+ 1.0 Red meat is the primary source of potentially life-shortening iron. Cutting back your read meat consumption to 1-2 days per week or less could add 1 year to your life expectancy
+ 1.0 Decreasing your bad cholesterol (called LDL cholesterol) to a normal or even lower level could increase your life expectancy by a year
+ 1.0 Decreasing your total cholesterol to a normal or even lower level could increase your life expectancy by a year
+ 0.25 It is wise to keep a record of your laboratory tests and other health data that might be hard for you to remember. Doing so could add a quarter of a year.
+ 2.0 Decreasing your systolic blood pressure (the first of the two numbers) to 120 or even lower could add 2 years to your life expectancy
+ 2.0 Decreasing your diastolic blood pressure (the second of the two numbers) to less than 80 or even lower could add 2 years to your life expectancy
+ 0.5 Getting your blood sugar checked could add half a year to your life expectancy

[Needlehole]

I like that test Teresa, although it said on the segment regarding consumption of red meat: " Red meat is the primary source of potentially life-shortening iron. Cutting back your read meat consumption to 1-2 days per week or less could add 3 years to your life expectancy." Yeah, right. Anyhow, it said my calculated life expectancy is 94, far beyond what I anticipated being a smoker. :)

[2bthinner!]

George Burns was a smoker. Major smoker, and he lived to be 100.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Burns

Although it doesn't say much about his ever present cigar! :lol:

I've also heard it depends on the cigarette. That the way they are processed (rushed) in the US is why we have problems. Supposedly, (will have to research) Europe doesn't have near the lung cancer we do, and it's tentatively attributed to how the tobacco is processed (naturally drying) as opposed to forced to get it on the shelf quicker.

I think I only ended up a non-smoker out of contrariness. :lol: I remember being told by some classmates that I HAD to smoke to be cool. And I'm thinking, well, if THAT'S all it takes, why bother?

ETA: The getting my blood sugar checked thing was confusing. I did get it checked! I actually didn't like it. It was 100, but I had had coffee, which doc had said was okay. Due to that I'm trying to cut back on caffeine as I'm wondering if that FBS of 100 means that caffeine raises my bloodsugar. Doc never said a word about that FBS either. :confused: :rolleyes:

ETA: George Burns quote
On a note of levity that Mr. Burns would appreciate is the story recounted by Gene Cohen, M.D., of George Washington University, who told us recently that he had done a public service TV spot with George Burns a year or so ago: When Dr. Cohen asked the great comedian, holding his ever-present cigar, what his doctor said about his smoking, Mr. Burns' retort was "my doctor is dead!" :lol:

[Nancy LC]

You can always find examples of people who did horrible things to their bodies and lived well despite it. They're flukes, not the norm. Many, many smokers end up with COPD (a horrible way to live/die by the way... not getting enough oxygen isn't fun), heart disease, lung cancer and so on. When I was a smoker every dang cold I had turned to bronchitis and I was absolutely miserable.

George Burns was a lucky guy, not an example to people who don't want to quit smoking.

[respira]

Life Expectancy Results
Life Expectancy: 87.59
Lower Quartile : 80.80
Median Lifetime: 89.17
Upper Quartile : 95.76

If I quit smoking I gain almost 3 years...

Life Expectancy Results
Life Expectancy: 90.32
Lower Quartile : 83.59
Median Lifetime: 91.82
Upper Quartile : 98.57

[deirdra]

Life Expectancy Results
Life Expectancy: 86.51
Lower Quartile : 79.71
Median Lifetime: 88.09
Upper Quartile : 94.61

But it says I could add 0.9 years by eating grains. I wouldn't want 34 years of misery for that!