When I was younger and even sometimes now, I feared the "crud happens"... and of course that is true. But the longer I live, the more I know people, the more of a rarity it does seem to be. I have health anxiety so I often really look into it. And often times, when I had one of those "stuff happens" story, I would find out there was something I didn't know. Like they drank a lot or they had failed to go to the doctor ever or took a drug that has a nasty side effect or had uncontrolled diabetes / insulin resistance. They just don't tell you and sometimes - they just don't know. I do think if you want to live longer you just can't take standard medical advice. You have to look further and do more. And really investigate. I think it is a shame that there is no explanation on why people died in obituaries. I think we need to know and it might go a long way toward raising awareness.

At the same time some of the people I know who have cancer are surviving longer than ever. My friend's mom had a relapse of ovarian cancer and we all thought she would be dead in a year. 7 years later.... she is still around (and she is 80). Even in my own family, people who did have diabetes or serious health issues... lasted longer than you would ever imagine. Some of my relatives lasted into their 90s in good shape when they had smoked, had heart attacks in their past. I have a blood issue that could lead to a blood cancer and the survival rates have dramatically increased in the last 5 years with the discovery of immunotherapy.

In fact, heart disease has dropped dramatically in the last 20 years and cancer is going down as well (not by a lot) but it has peaked.

I want to live as long as I can in the best shape I can.