Do you want to live to 100?

I spoke to a gentleman the other day who said he just flew in from seeing his mother who was 100 years old. I thought, "Wow! That's great." Then I considered what it would be like to be 100. Would my family and close friends still be around? How would my health be? Would I need constant health care to make it to 101? What would my quality of life feel like? Sure, I'd probably see so many amazing changes in the world and world events, but would it be worth it?

'Centenarians' (100+) are less the 1% of the world's population today. Of the babies born today, 1 in 3 will make it to 100. That was not the case when I was born during the Baby Boom after WWII. Modern medicine has made that possible through the miracle of advanced drug therapies and testing. The acclaimed St. Jude's Research Center and Hospital says they are just around the corner from finding the cure for childhood cancer. If you are a 'Sexagenarian' (60-69 y.o.) or a 'Septuagenarian' (70-79 y.o.) your life expectancy is about 75 according to the C.D.C.. Which in the USA, we are 46th in the world for longevity. Hong Kong is number 1. Their average death age is 85. Why?

With between 82,000 and 95,000 Centenarians alive today, in the year 2060 they are projecting the USA will have nearly 590, 000 people 100+. Old population is getting older than babies than are being born.

At 75 now, for a couple more months, I believe I am in pretty shape and health. Still flexible, no medical problems and stay busy with car building, socializing and travel. Occasionally I forget where I put my coffee cup, or have to look up spelling of words, but for the most part fairly sharp. I believe that is natural for 75 year old males. I still really suck at remembering names. Sorry guys!

On the horizon, medicine is developing something a little spooky, 'Nanobots' which could be injected into a person to literally kill bad cells like cancer and other diseases. These BOTS could even change a developing baby's DNA so they would not have crippling conditions or diseases in the future. They could be capable of changing the DNA so they would become concert pianist, teachers, presidents or anything the parents would like. They may even slow or stop the aging process. That might be going too far in my mind. Sounds a little like Hitler's time.

From Einstein to Freud, all humans know they're going to die, and that dictates how they live their life. My wish is that scientists use their talents to cure diseases and just give us a better quality of life in our so-called 'Golden Years'. I think that changing the DNA for anything other than preventing sickness and diseases is NOT what the world wants or needs. I personally do not want to live to 100, unless, I can still walk around without assistance, and have a good quality of life. What do you think? How long do you want to live?  Leave me your comments.