Anecdotal information is certainly very interesting and often heartwarming, but it is not scientific. Many people live longer today because heart disease, cancer, and other disases are being controlled better than they were in the past. Many men and women who would have died in the past are now living into their eighties and nineties. Look around The Villages and you will see many senior citizens leading healthy, active lives. It certainly is interesting to hear that "Gramps" who came from the "old country" and smoked a pack of unfiltered camels a day lived to be ninety one, but that doesn't mean that the average person back then lived as long as they do today. Healthy eating habits and exercise can add to this good, modern medical care. I am very glad that I am living today rather than back fifty years ago.
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