‘For health and longevity, having a closely knit family where love is always home is a big psychological, emotional, spiritual, and physical support.’

IN the United States, about 4.7 percent of the population count of 337,141,658 (as of 9-20-24) are 90 years and older. This translates to about 15.8 million nonagenarians.

The life expectancy for American men in 2023 was 73, and for women, 79, and 67.3 years for men and around 74.5 for women in the Philippines. People have been more health-conscious over the past five decades, progress in medical science and healthcare skyrocketed, and overall societal mindset and environment tremendously improved. As a result, people are living longer.

Currently, there are about 90 percent of adults in the US who regularly take at least one prescription drug and 80 percent at least two.

Among non-drinkers and non-smokers, 33 percent of women will live to 95 or beyond, and only 20 percent of men will live 95 and older. Only 4.3 percent of them have no illness at all, like symptomatic arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, etc.

In the US annually, there are an estimated 400,000 deaths from tobacco-related illnesses and 100,000 deaths from alcoholism. These two risk factors alone account for 33.3 percent of all deaths in the country. Car crashes kill about 43,000 a year. Wearing seatbelts lowers the risk of death by 45 percent.

Actuarial tables show that for men, the probability of living to 100 is about 0.48 percent, and for women, 1.66 percent, about three and a half times greater. Indeed, women are tougher than men.

But how many people in the US are 96, active, of clear mind and memory, who do not have any symptoms of arthritis, etc., at all, and not on any medication whatsoever?

I have a good old friend, a namesake, “Ipe,” who is 96, a non-smoker, a teetotaler, with a memory clear as a bell, who still dances the cha-cha, has no pains of arthritis or any ills, and not even on a single pill at all. He and his wife of 91 have been married for 66 years. They have five loving children, 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and one great, great-grandchild. What a blessed couple and a wonderful family!

For health and longevity, having a closely-knit family where love is always home is a big psychological, emotional, spiritual, and physical support. This makes life more meaningful, easier to navigate, and more fulfilled.

In the Philippines, the government’s Centenarian Act of 2023 awards Filipino citizens and Filipino dual citizens an incentive cash of P10,000 every five years for those who live to 80, 85, 90, and 95, and P100,000 for centenarians. In 2019, there were 59 overseas Filipinos (in the USA, Canada, Australia, UK and Hong Kong) who got the award for reaching 100. Seniors in the Philippines also get a 20-percent discount card for medications, groceries, restaurants, movies, transportation, and transport pre-boarding privileges.

A healthy lifestyle maximizes longevity and can outweigh bad genes.

However, having good family genes does not guarantee good health and a longer life. An unhealthy diet, self-abuse with tobacco, alcohol, or illicit drugs, a toxic environment, recklessness, arrogance, braggadocio, and an anti-medical attitude, all significantly affect the health and lifespan of an individual. Indeed, the lifestyle is the elixir of our well-being, the key to Ponce de Leon’s elusive fountain of youth.

In this informational age, where Dr. Google is ubiquitous and on-call 24/7, with almost infinite data on any subject, it behooves everyone to constantly search, learn, and use the progress of medical science and healthcare for our own and our family’s well-being. All the information we need is now at our fingertips. Savor the info to be wiser, healthier, more productive, and happier.

The mind-boggling great strides in all sciences and technologies in various fields of human endeavors, including medicine, surgery, space exploration, and now Artificial Intelligence, are all blessings, thanks to man’s intelligence, wisdom, vision, ingenuity, and skills should be taken full advantage of. Not utilizing them to better our health and well-being is a grave waste, insane irresponsibility, and irreverence, not only to our own body and soul but also to the Almighty, for those who believe in God.

From May 30, 2021 to September 3, 2022, there were a quarter of a million deaths among unvaccinated persons in the US. Sadly, misinformation and fake news led to their fear of this life-saving vaccine, like the three anti-vax misinformed radio talk show hosts who warned their audiences against the vaccines, who later got infected and died from COVID-19 themselves, apologizing to their listeners before their deaths.

Those were unfortunate incidents of wasting a wonderful vaccine, a marvelous invention of man since physician Edward Jenner invented the first vaccine against mass-killer smallpox in 1796. There were an “estimated 400 million people around the globe who were killed by smallpox in the 20th century alone. Jenner’s vaccine saved the world from almost total annihilation. His invention has inspired the manufacture of other vaccines similar to what we have today. The most recent discovery is a more efficient system of producing vaccines, called mRNA, which happened during this pandemic, and has revolutionized and expedited vaccine creation from 10 years or longer down to about months. What a leap of progress for mankind!

Anyway, since diet is fundamental to attain good health, and quantity, besides quality of food, is vital, allow me to share with you a strategy my wife and I learned from our medical school mentor, the world-famous Philippine pediatrician, the first woman accepted to study at Harvard in 1936, Dr. Fe del Mundo, who died in 2011 at almost 100. She was practicing at The Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, which she founded in 1957, the first pediatric hospital in the country, till she was 94. Her advice to us was: “Push yourself away from the table less than full.”

Indeed, simple words of golden wisdom, a sage, practical, and effective strategy for health and longevity!

Let’s always aim for the stars in whatever we do.

Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a cardiac surgeon emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, health advocate, medical missionary, newspaper columnist, and chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian foundation in the United States. He is a decorated recipient of the Indiana Sagamore of the Wabash Award in 1995 presented by then Indiana Governor, US senator, and later presidential candidate Evan Bayh.  Other Sagamore past awardees include President Harry S. Truman, President George HW Bush, pugilist Muhammad Ali, TV talk show host David Letterman, Astronaut Gus Grissom, educators, scientists, etc. (Wikipedia). Websites: FUN8888.com,Today.SPSAtoday.com, and philipSchua.com Email: [email protected]