Time marches on

In the 40s there were news reals that talked about the march of time. As one gets older one realizes how transitory life really is. We have all heard it so many times before, you think you are invincible when you are young and then when you are older.

It is not that which strikes me it is more the thought of losing those around me that I love and hold dear. The people that one has shared one's life with, will begin to fade and fall, and one might be left in a home alone hoping the next generation will provide support.

I think it is beginning to dawn on humanity, perhaps the most startling statistic of all, that life expectancy is rising but healthy life expectancy is not rising as quickly. Many of us will fade away and that is the statistical reality.

What choices will we have in the future one has to wonder, is it really better to spend one's life avoiding fatty food and smoking if it means we end up fading away with Alzheimer’s? What would those Roman warriors think of the modern world and how we seem to extend life at any cost. This is the really interesting or terrifying question. What choices will we have in the future... people fertile into their 100s, then it will be a population question, prolonging life so people have 30 years of poor health before they die.

They are not nice choices but the world may have to face them, or perhaps it will be live to their 100s with health. We must but wish it is so.