Life expectancy

[Teamedup]

Just read on the BBC web site that life expectancy in France is, 75 for the men and 83 for women.

Whereas you blokes get another 'average' year in the UK and us ladies lose 2.......76 and 81.

I had actually expected France to have done better in both averages, but there you go, life or is it death has it's little surprises. 

[letrangere]

TU, you may have been on holiday but I posted some interesting stats in the summer that gave French life expectancy in relation to profession.  I suppose it's over simplistic to suggest the French male figure is due to over consumption of cigarettes and alcohol?  The death toll on the roads probably doesn't help either. 

Incidentally, on the same web site earlier in the week, shocking comparisons town by town in UK.  Male life expectancy has actually fallen (eh?) in Glasgow to 69.something.

M

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote]TU, you may have been on holiday but I posted some interesting stats in the summer that gave French life expectancy in relation to profession. I suppose it's over simplistic to suggest the French mal...[/quote]

MJW - I saw a report about a year ago (not public - my brother had it in a profeesional capacity)  that broke out the Glasgow stats by postcode. In one region (I wish I could remember which part of the city but the little swine wouldn't let me photocopy it) for men it was down to 56 years. This was actually part of a more general picture across the UK - the report was concentrating on socially deprived districts of British cities. One of the conclusions of the report (which I found alarming in the extreme) was that the generation being born at the moment will have a lower life expectency than their parents, almost entirely due to diet and lifestyle changes. It was also pointed out that although complete data for all counties was not available, the UK was the only developed country where this appeared to be happening, though the authors were pretty confident that this would become a general trend. What a legacy, eh?

[Stew]

[quote]Just read on the BBC web site that life expectancy in France is, 75 for the men and 83 for women. Whereas you blokes get another 'average' year in the UK and us ladies lose 2.......76 and 81. I had ...[/quote]

Every day with "Charente Libre" our dept's local daily, I check the births deaths etc.

This is partly because we live next to the church and I hate being taken by surprise by a local death, but I mainly check the deaths because I'm astounded at the age attained by people here.

People dying in their 80s and 90s is common, but at least a few times a week there are folk in their 100s.

No epedimiologist me, but my ameteur guess is that if the French manage to dodge the big C or heart disease in their 50's they've got a good chance of hitting mid 80s and beyond.

Also, in the countryside you see old folk still working the fields, I know farmers still working hard physically in their 70s, whereas my folks, in their early seventies struggle a mile walk.

Stew

(adopting all of the French vices but none of the virtues)

[Weedon]

[quote]Just read on the BBC web site that life expectancy in France is, 75 for the men and 83 for women. Whereas you blokes get another 'average' year in the UK and us ladies lose 2.......76 and 81. I had ...[/quote]

So, do I take it that in a few years from now I will have to move back to the "yuke" for my final year leaving my other half here.  God only knows what the price of a terrace house will be then though?

Weedon(53)

[Iceni]

We were recently talking to an ex head of Health Educataion for a large NHS area and he said that this was all silly unless you took out the factors that have always 'blipped' the figures.

Early in the 20th Century the average lifespan was very low BUT if you took out the deaths in childhood and deaths due to childbirth, people lived to very nearly the same old age they do now. Modern medical methods have removed most of these risks but taking a man or woman who lived to 50, they had a good chance of living nearly as long as a man or woman who reach 50 today.

If life expectancy is really down that low in Glasgow we are going back to the dark ages. I was always told that the danger ages for men was up to 25 (murder and car accidents) and 45 to 55 (heart and other diseases of middle age in men). Women who get over childbirth tend to just motor on. These are very rough statements but when you realise that a woman has 18 times more chance of dying through heart disease than breast cancer (the most common female cancer) and that diets are tending to get worse I can see why figures will drop.

Just remember that that glass or two of red wine each night will increase your chances of living longer - as long as you don't have a ciggie as well of course.

[Richardrawlings]

I expect to live today I don't know about tommorow and whats interesting I am planning for a future I might not have.

These figures might be wrong you might all live until you are 100 plus they are after all statistics and you know what they say.

Lies , Dam Lies and Statistics

 

stillits nice to know I will probably live longer in france than the UK

 

[Teamedup]

No RD if you are a bloke you have a greater life expectancy in the UK.

And I don't want to live a long time, well not just to live a long time. Life, ie breathing is of little interest to me if there is no quality there. The thought of getting alzheimers is horrible to me. I would rather a good heartache carried me off before my mind went, so I'll stick to the butter, I think.

[Piprob]

In her book "Bonjour paresse", Corinne Maier thinks a shorter life span for French men evens-up the score. The notion is that as French men won't let French women into their world of work - it's only fair that French women should enjoy a longer life after stress has carried off the men.

Nothing contentious there then!