Looking for home care, a vet who makes housecalls, a pharmacy that delivers, or senior housing? Find these and dozens of other services for Minnesota seniors in the GrayTimes Directory.
Find out what’s happening around Minnesota of interest to seniors, whether it’s a seminar on how to stay healthy, a lecture on planning for retirement, or a grand opening of an assisted living community.
We’ve searched the Web to find the most helpful information and resources for seniors. If you’re looking for government programs, information on health, safety, or prescription drug side effects, or how to stop those irritating telemarketing calls, these links will bring you a wealth of information.
Calling out the Grim Reaper:
a review of online longevity calculators
BY LEE KAPLAN—
Whoever thought that comtemplating one's own mortality could be fun? Sort of.
As I turn 58, the age at which my father died, I find myself taking stock of my life. And as a part of that, I've been trying to get an idea of how much of it there is left. So, where does an Internet addict like me turn? To the Web, where I turn for just about everything. (Step 1: Admit you have a problem.) The Web holds a number of longevity calculators that just about every Baby Boomer would want to take a look at.
Now, the first thing you need to realize is that none of these calculators actually tries to predict the day you'll die, although, one —The Tombclock — claims to do just that. (If your planning brunch for Sunday, May 23, 2021, don't invite me.) There's even a calculator for predicting the life span of a sow. So, if you're a sow, you'll definitely want to check this one out.
What the calculators do, for the most part, is identify aspects of your lifestyle, attitude and family history that influence your expected life span. Their real value is in providing guidance on some things you can do now to improve your chances of experiencing a longer and healthier life.
Living to 100
I started with one of the most popular calculators, "Living to 100." This is linked to the new social networking site for Boomers, Eons.com. And, before you know it, if you take the test, you'll have signed up for a free membership at Eons.com. (I'll be checking Eons.com out in the near future.)
"Living to 100" consists of a battery of five question areas, involving personal, lifestyle, nutrition, medical and family traits. On the basis of answers to your questions, they provide what they call your "calculated longevity" and how long you could expect to live ... if only you follow their recommendations.
So, I fired up this online calculator and went to the "personal" section. The first question was marital status. I aced it. But I hesitated on the next question, "Do your family members — other than your spouse and children — live near enough to spontaneously drop by?" I wanted to answer, "Yes, but they know better." The closest option was "Yes," so I clicked that and moved on. What followed was a series of questions about work, intellectual stimulation, sleep patterns, and sources of stress in your life and how you handle them. This is a fairly thorough list, and I think a strong point of this particular calculator.
Then it was on to the "lifestyle" questions. I got some benefit from living in a suburb. Life in the suburbs may be more boring, but at least I get to endure it longer, due to the cleaner air. I also scored some more years on the planet because I'm not a smoker or a heavy drinker. And, my being a compulsive flosser apparently bought me more time.
Questions on nutrition followed. Here, I really cleaned up. My weight and height produced a "Calculated Body Mass Index" of 22.56, put me in pretty good position, and I later learned that my "ideal weight" is actually four pounds higher. Since I don't eat hot dogs anymore, and sparingly eat red meat, I did well on the diet section. Then I lost it all on the exercise section. After my youth as something of an athlete (though my high school basketball coach would dispute that), deteriorated disks, knee surgery and tennis elbow (not from actually playing tennis) have all conspired to render me a couch potato. And then there's that Internet addiction I mentioned earlier. So, I probably lost a few years there.
I was looking forward to the medical section about the same way I looked forward to my first colonoscopy last year. And I was a bit disappointed to find out I didn't get any points for the colonoscopy. They asked questions about my cholesterol (a bit too high), my blood pressure (decent), diabetes (nope), and even my bowel movements (none of your business). But my colonoscopy meant nothing to these people!
The final step was to deal with my family history. This section is a bit sketchy, with only three questions — one about heart disease, one about cancer, and one about one about longevity. Now, while all of my family members have lived good lives, they haven't all been very long ones. Except my aunt, who shared my birthday. She made it to 100, so I was able to answer the longevity question in a way that added to my score. Bless you, Aunt Rose!
All that remained was to click the "Calculate my life expectancy" button. I waited for what seemed to be an eternity (actually about 10 minutes) to get an Email message with a link to my score. According to "Living to 100," I'm going to go out in a blaze of glory at age 91. And, if I follow their personalized recommendations, they say I can make it to age 97.
If I can learn to chill out and manage stress better, I can add .5 years of life, they say. Cutting back on work would add another year. Having a better attitude about aging itself could buy me three more months to enjoy ... aging. Cutting back on coffee would give me another three months. More regular use of aspirin buys me another year, as do cutting out sweets and improving my HDL and LDL cholesterol. Curiously, nothing is said of exercise. However, I think that's something I could do, which would deal with my slightly elevated cholesterol. So, except for cutting back on coffee — they must be kidding — I think these would all be worthwhile.
Personally, I'm not expecting to live to 91, no matter what I do. Maybe I'll meet my end in a natural disaster or a tragic art gallery incident. Who knows? But I found "Living to 100" to be well worth the time it took to go through it. Because, that's 20 minutes of my life I actually will get back.
Play the Longevity Game
For sheer amusement, you can't beat Northwestern Mutual Financial Network's Longevity Game. As you work your way through a series of 12 questions to determine whether the Grim Reaper is looking over your shoulder, there's nothing like being entertained by a cartoon image of what your health habits and family history are turning you into.
As a 58-year-old male, my "Age Tabulator," which keeps a running estimate, started at 77. The fun comes in when you type in alternative answers to see how your cartoon persona changes. Just for the heck of it, I typed in age 25 and saw the image change to a thinner face and more hair. Ah, the good old days. After typing in my actual age, height and weight, I got a Body Mass Index calculation and a picture of me which seemed reasonable, if I added a mustache and glasses. That bumped my "Age Tabulator" up to 78. I tested what would happen if I added 100 pounds. Along with a fatter me, that would cost me four years. Curiously, I found that even at 1,000 pounds, the Longevity Game thinks I'd make it to age 71.
The family history section of this calculator needs some work. They only ask if a family member or more than one had cardiovascular problems before age 55. There could be more depth here. My father's heart problems did not affect my Age Tabulator, but a picture of a bandaged heart appeared on the cartoon screen.
My moderate blood pressure earned me three extra years, while my attitude toward stress ("I have my share of ups and downs.") had no impact on my Age Tabulator. The lack of exercise, however, knocked out everything else I had going for me, dropping me back to age 77, and depicting me holding a remote control while wearing bunny slippers.
As with "Living to 100," the Longevity Game gave me extra years for my diet. Then wearing my seat belt and having a good driving record got me back to 81 in the Age Tabulator. Of all the individual items in the Longevity Game, having a poor driving record and using drugs knock off the most years of life. So, be careful out there!
My moderate wine habit earned me another two years of life. So, "L'Chaim!" And, being a non-smoker bumped me up to age 86. Not quite 91, but I'd take living to age 86 ... at least until I get into my 80's ... then I might change my mind.
Unlike "Living to 100", the Longevity Game won't provide any followup guidance on how you can extend your life further. But it is a lot more entertaining.
What's your "Real Age"?
Another site I tried was the "RealAge" Test calculator, developed by two doctors. Just turn your head and click the start button.
You might want to click past the first page, which lists of health concerns you and your family have. I suspect — though I don't know for sure — that it might cause you to be showered with offers from companies trying to sell you something, based on your responses to this section. My suspicion is heightened by the fact that the site seems to be peddling a number of books on health. Still, if you're interested in getting further information, you might want to check this site out more fully.
This calculator takes a different approach to others I tested. Instead of producing a predicted length of your life, it makes a comparison of your "RealAge" to your actual age. Needless to say, you'll want your "RealAge" to be less than your actual age, if you want to live longer. One of the downsides of using the "RealAge" calculator is that you don't get a running score, so you can't see how a particular response might affect your end result.
The general health section contains similar questions to those found in "Living to 100." However, they go into more detail about yo-yo weight gain and loss. Since I still weigh what I weighed in high school — despite somehow adding two sizes to everything — I probably got some brownie points. The medical history section is far more detailed than any of the other longevity calculators I tested, including questions not only about family history, but also about your own previous medical experiences.
The section on stress and social support is similarly quite deep, including questions on friendships, pets, religious observance, your childhood, and (yikes!) your sex life. Then it's on to a fairly complete section of questions about alcohol and tobacco usage and driving patterns (including speed, type of vehicle, airbags, and cellphone use — but strangely, no mention of seat belts).
This is followed by a thorough evaluation of your diet and use of vitamin supplements, including the amount of key nutrients they contain. So, be sure to dig out your vitamin bottles before you sit down to take the test.
Then, if you still have the strength, you finish up with a section about exercise and fitness, including aerobic, strength and flexibility-training exercise.
RealAge Test provides you with your RealAge score. Mine's 51.8 years. That's a lot younger than I feel most mornings. They also give you a very detailed nutrition, fitness and social activity plan on how you can extend your life (but no tips for your sex life).
The verdict
Of all the calculators I tried out, I found the RealAge Test the most detailed (and the most time-consuming at about 1/2 hour). It provides more information on steps you can take to improve your health. I liked the features on the Longevity Game and "Living to 100" that provides more ongoing feedback, so you can see the impact of various steps as you proceed through the test. But for serious consideration of health issues, I think the RealAge Test is best.
If you've got some time, I'd recommend you take them all. But, hey, it's your life.
Print
number of longevity calculators that just about every Baby Boomer would want to take a look at. 