Review: Life Expectancy Calculator
Dr. Thomas Perl's Website on Increasing Your Longevity
Do you want to know when you are going to die? Although this question sounds eerie, millions of people check out life expectancy calculators each year to try to find out the answer. Life insurance companies have been using actuarial calculators for years, determining your life expectancy in order to protect their interests. Obviously, there is no sure fire way to say when each of us will die, however, based on certain criteria, medical research can make some predictions.
There are now many different calculators on the Internet that you can take advantage of in order to improve your health and create a plan of action toward a healthier lifestyle. The most popular Life Expectancy Calculator is at Livingto100.com. The test has 40 questions about family relationships, lifestyle, eating habits and family health history. The entire test takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. At the end of the test you are provided with personal information on how you can improve your lifestyle to increase your life expectancy.
Some of the suggestions are self-explanatory and fairly evident; if you are a smoker, one of the recommendations will be to quit smoking. The calculator will also analyze your BMI (Body Mass Index) to determine if you could optimize your health by losing weight. Some suggestions are less apparent to the general public. For example, dental flossing each day can actually add to your longevity. Additionally, for men, being married adds about 3 years to your life, however, for women there is no increase. Living close to relatives and maintaining a relationship with siblings or other relatives can improve your health and add to the time you will live.
The designer of Livingto100.com is Dr. Thomas Perls, who has been researching aging for many years. One study completed in 2002 points to genetic factors that contribute to longevity. Dr. Perls hopes to better understand the aging process in order to help people create a better quality of life, even as they age. According to Perls, his research is not to “find the fountain of youth,” but to find “the fountain of aging well.”
We all would like to live long and healthy lives. Advances in medical science and our knowledge of living better has increased overall life expectancy. For example, a person born in 1930 would have a life expectancy of 59.7 years, while a person born in 2004 would be expected to live more than 77 years. Dr. Perl believes that by following principles of good health, we can extend our lives. His calculator provides tools and information for individuals to create a personalized health plan to not only live longer, but to live better.
References:
Life Expectancy Calculator, Living to 100
Scientists Identify Chromosome Location of Genes Associated with Long Life, Harvard Gazette Archives, 2002
Life Expectancy, National Center for Health Statistics
