The Telegraph – Harry de Quetteville
Parents today, by contrast, are faced with a far more straightforward task: deploying the available science to ensure their offspring live long and well. “Basically if you look at the last century far fewer people now die of infectious disease thanks to sanitation, vaccination and antibiotics,” says David Oliver, Britain’s former National Clinical Director for Older People’s Services. “And we’re much better at the heroic end of things – heart attack treatment and things like that.” That means the biggest killers today are lifestyle related: stroke, heart disease, common cancers, and respiratory disease. The World Health Organisation has shown that half of all preventable disease for people over 50 in western countries is common to four lifestyle choices. The first is sitting on your backside. (more)