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Author Topic: Life expectancy increased  (Read 15502 times)
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Chris9000

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« on: 12-16-2016 07:32 »
« Last Edit on: 12-16-2016 16:52 »

I haven't heard or seen anyone mention this, people just seem to be fine with the fact that the Professor is 160 years old. But I kinda like how it's a future thing no one acknowledges. Mom, Zoidberg, Wernstrom etc are all established to be over 100 years old.

Is this just cause the life expectancy increased on its own or just very good medical care in the future? If the former, then Fry would die way before everyone else. Yet he and Leela grew equally old in Meanwhile :shifty:

EDIT: Zoidberg isn't 100 years old but 80 - 90 ish. Somehwere around that.
Tachyon

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« Reply #1 on: 12-16-2016 09:18 »


Leela was born into a diverse society of sub-surface dwellers, and I don't know of anything definitive mentioned about her expected lifespan.  Do you recall any?

DannyJC13

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« Reply #2 on: 12-16-2016 19:16 »

I don't know of anything definitive mentioned about her expected lifespan.  Do you recall any?

Well, we see her grandmother as a little girl & her great-grandmother as a young lady in 2912 (6ACV12), so I assume they age just like normal humans.
Tachyon

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« Reply #3 on: 12-16-2016 21:53 »


So mutants seem to age the way normal humans did, but surface-dwellers enjoy futuristic health care and live longer, even if they may age at the same rate.

Chris9000

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« Reply #4 on: 12-17-2016 16:17 »

That would still mean Fry has roughly a 40% or more (I think) less life expectancy than everyone else.

Unless my health care theory is true, that is.
athena1999

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« Reply #5 on: 01-14-2017 00:06 »

Without reading too much into it, life expectancy has increased drastically over the previous 1000 years already. In the Middle Ages, the median life expectancies for men and women were 48 and 42, respectively, before the advent of health-care advances such as antibiotics and sterile technique. Even now we're looking at the implications of telomerase activity, calorie reduction, and dedifferentiation of human stem cells as potential ways to prolong lifespan and healthspan. Ageing all comes down to whether or not the cells in the human body are still functional.

Judging by how characters age on the show, it seems to be a combination of slowing down the process of senescence (which could be accomplished through altering the body's metabolism and gene expression) and life prolongation (accomplished via methods unknown). Fry might likely show signs of ageing more prematurely than the other characters, but he'll still have a prolonged life compared to people in the 21st century.
Tachyon

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« Reply #6 on: 01-18-2017 05:22 »


It's interesting that you mentioned "telomerase activity", as it was only last week that I first learned that telomeres don't simply shrink over time, but that they can lengthen under some conditions.  Though I've no idea what those conditions might be.

transgender nerd under canada

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« Reply #7 on: 01-30-2017 03:01 »

...telomeres don't simply shrink over time, but that they can lengthen under some conditions...

Usually, these conditions involve telomerase reverse transcriptase, an enzyme that if it is over-produced effectively switches off cellular senescence. The most common phenotypical expression of this activity is for the cell in question to become cancerous and begin tumor formation.

When performed in vitro, the introduction of excess telomerase reverse transcriptase makes cells immortal, allowing them to be cultured indefinitely.

Reverse telomerase transcriptase is usually something that isn't found in adult cells, although the other enzymes responsible for telomere manipulation are. This turns off the telomere extension process, since this enzyme is the lynchpin of the process. However, when such a cell produces or intakes this enzyme, telomere extension will occur. Telomere manipulation, and reverse telomerase transcriptase formation, are more commonly associated with undifferentiated cells (stem cells).

The trick to extending human life expectancy using telomere extension would be to lengthen cellular telomeres via a controllable expression of this enzyme, so that runaway extension does not occur. The uncontrolled process is liable to produce a cancer that will kill a person much more quickly than the natural aging process would.

That, or somehow introducing a capping protein to the end of the telomere so as to keep it at a set length, would allow cells to remain viable and capable of division, repair, and the expression of necessary biomolecules for longer, increasing the lifetime of the person whose cells have this property.

Even now we're looking at the implications of telomerase activity, calorie reduction, and dedifferentiation of human stem cells as potential ways to prolong lifespan and healthspan. Ageing all comes down to whether or not the cells in the human body are still functional.

There are the couple of factors that rely on structural components (bone, blood vessels, cartilage, etc.) to consider. It may be harder to regenerate that kind of tissue than it is to convince organs to stay healthy on a cellular level, meaning that people would still become frail as they age.
Tachyon

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« Reply #8 on: 01-31-2017 07:51 »
« Last Edit on: 01-31-2017 07:52 »


And more scary-looking, too!

transgender nerd under canada

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« Reply #9 on: 02-05-2017 05:39 »

Eventually coming to resemble an elephant-skin rug...
Tachyon

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« Reply #10 on: 02-07-2017 08:09 »
« Last Edit on: 02-07-2017 08:11 »


To date, I've not had the opportunity to view an elephant rug.  But I do own a mirror, and that's depressing enough :p

Will life extension methods develop sporadically and incrementally as medical science progresses over time?  Or might there be one or a few discoveries that have a huge impact and are developed over relatively short periods of time?  A prophylactic drug that protects arterial walls in a way that keeps atherosclerosis from developing, for instance.  Or targeted treatments that can easily be tailored to kill a range of common cancers, yet are not toxic to the patients and not so hit-and-miss as today's trials seem to be.  Oh, and are affordable, too.

I envy you guys, as I suspect that breakthroughs will be coming along before another 20-30 years have passed.  Perhaps a method for cellular rejuvenation of some sort, that targets specific organs at first.  The biggest challenge may be sociological.  What happens to modern societies when and if the typical lifespan is suddenly increased by even a relatively short 20 years?

There are a couple of things that we already know can have a significant positive impact on longevity.  I can likely extend my life, or at least the number of useful and comfortable years in my life, by simply cutting back on the quantity of food that I consume, and combine that with more regular exercise.  Those things are really difficult to execute for some people.  Including me.  And if severe caloric restriction turns out to increase human lifespan significantly, as it seems to in mice?  There's not enough willpower in the universe to enable me to follow a near-starvation diet.

Live long, and prosper!

winna

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« Reply #11 on: 02-07-2017 10:24 »

Hasn't the average lifespan increased by 20 years over the last century versus the previous 2 millenia?

I think the sociological aspect could easily be compared with the baby boomers (who likes them?).
winna

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« Reply #12 on: 02-07-2017 10:27 »

Which aliens encoded the aging destruct sequence in human dna anyways?
Tachyon

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« Reply #13 on: 02-07-2017 22:57 »


Good question.

I'm more interested in the average age to which someone lives, after having survived birth and childhood.

winna

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« Reply #14 on: 02-08-2017 04:26 »

Over the entire course of humanity?

Probably somewhere between 8 and 23.
athena1999

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« Reply #15 on: 04-14-2017 18:14 »

Right now, according to the WHO, entire world life expectancy is about 71.4 years, but looking just at the ranges for those countries which don't have a high percentage of deaths due to birth complications, the median appears to be slightly higher-- around 77-79. I'm too lazy to do the exact math right now, obviously.

Monaco has a life expectancy of 89 years. They must be doing something right, so let's figure out what they're eating and turn it into the next fad diet. It's also a tiny country (about 2.0 square km) with a tiny population of 30,508, so that must be taken into consideration. Maybe it's just where all the rich old people from France and Italy go to retire.

Also, Tachy, there are many evidence-based studies indicating that a reduced-calorie diet rich in vitamins and antioxidants can slow down the ageing process significantly. Insulin receptors are also growth factor receptors, so in addition to stimulating cellular metabolism and bringing glucose receptors to the surface of the cell, it activates another pathway that tells your cells to make a lot of proteins, grow, and divide (if appropriate). If there's less insulin circulating in the blood, the cells become more sensitive to glucose, and they don't wear themselves out or senesce. Sadly, most of America doesn't practice this, but if it didn't, physicians would be out of business ;)
transgender nerd under canada

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« Reply #16 on: 04-15-2017 03:11 »

...a reduced-calorie diet rich in vitamins and antioxidants can slow down the ageing process significantly...

Sand is a low calorie food.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant and a vitamin!

Therefore, sand enriched with ascorbic acid should prolong one's life significantly if ingested as the majority component of one's diet.
winna

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« Reply #17 on: 05-01-2017 02:31 »

This is my primary diet, and I've pretty much stopped aging.  I also eat once a day 90% of the time.  The only thing else in my diet is a high sustained intake of glucose administered cia fluids orally.  I'm fairly certain I'm immune to diabetes because I am very physically active, burning all caloric intake on a daily basis, the glucose goes directly to my brain.  I've also been consuming iron and magnesium.  This is 98% of my diet by mass, I have other secrets in the final 2%, they are primarily reserved for work.

I no longer age, I am exceptionally fit physically, and I am mentally acute--I do mathematics in my brain to go to sleep, study various subjects in my off time, multitask while driving, solve problems at work, and have the best dreams (literally the most entertaining, strange, and interesting).
Tachyon

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« Reply #18 on: 05-01-2017 04:08 »


That's some pretty damned good sand y'all have down in Tejas, dude!


Also, Tachy, there are many evidence-based studies indicating that a reduced-calorie diet rich in vitamins and antioxidants can slow down the ageing process significantly.


Yepper.  That's a change I'd consider making to my diet if only my life didn't revolve around the consumption of tasty victuals :-/  The thing is, on most ot the days I spend at home I typically eat 1.5 meals and don't get hungry until late afternoon.  But at work, there's some sort of stress-driven factor that causes me to become ravenously hungry less than an hour after arriving, and even a large meal does not sate my appetite.

winna

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« Reply #19 on: 05-01-2017 15:00 »

It's mostly sanded grout.  I eat a lot of mortar.... tile grout has this...... delicious smell to it like a fruit or seed, dried pomegranite and something else maybe.  Tastes like....... cake icing where the sugar hasn't been mixed in properly mixed with gravy made with entirely too much bacon grease, a pinch of flour, and ground charcoal.  It's a bit of an acquired taste, yet the texture is insanely satisfying.  Mortar gets all over my hands and clothes though.... it's slightly alkaline, I think, and it burns the skin.  My hands are often wrinkled then from prolonged exposure to water, pruny and the skin cracks as it dries.  I mix all of my mortar and grout, concrete and cement, by hand one bucket at a time, often with my hands to get just the right consistency.  It's actually the exact same thing as baking a cake or baking bread.

I'd probably reasonably live to 200 years old on my current path, very healthy, no aging, a really strange immunity to chemicals.  Or 80 years old, pretty easy milestone if I thought that was a thing.

Let's see... it's 2017, I'm ~-25 years old this year.... carry the one, 2031 is in about 14 years..... possibly make it to 2033, if I want it bad enough that is, unsure which way thay will fall. So something like -9 years old according to peel.  Pretty sure my account autoupdates my bday so I'm infinitely -25, but that isn't really relevant, I've probably got 16 years left in this cycle, which is fine, that's a whole human life cycle, and anywhere between 4 and 32 new life chapters for me.  The chapters are loosely defined a new one occurs every 4 months to 2 years when I end up moving and becoming a new person to slide underneath society again.  I usually have a new life episode every week though, it's been an entertaining watch so far.

More to the concern and presentation of thought discussed in the thread, in 16 years on my current course I'll be 16 years older, highly knowledgeable, highly skilled, very healthy as I am now, perhaps a few more pounds heavy, and 5 minutes away from a complete medical crisis which will result in my foreseen cessation from this world due to human error.  It'll undoubtedly be a neat, new, and curious experience for me, and I'll probably laugh at something someone said.... if I'm really an extra good troll, half as smart as I think I am, and have twice the fortitude I have now, I'll tell them good bye, wish them well, and let them know I love(d) them.

Then that chapter we will be over and maybe the 1000 year novel will begin a few moments later... maybe.... hopefully.

I'm hardly concerned with aging, and I honestly expect that my lack of concern for it will be prominent in its lacking.  Or I'm wrong about chems and they drop me like a door(knob/nail/bell/pick_one), particularly the cig smoking which accounts for parts of the secret 2% in my previous post.  Not concerned with that either, smoking most likely can't cause enough damage in 16 years, lots of people made it to 80+ smoking every day, and one argument could be made that cigs have become safer in 50 years.  I also drink a noticeable quantity of energy drinks each day.... that's I high splash of my daily B vitamins.


I once heard of a man who swore by eating vaseline.  Apparently claimed it greased various portions of his body, which makes a small amount of sense, since mechanically vaseline would provide decent lubrication.  How this was distributed across his body after ingesting a spoonful each day is a little outside my understanding, and he apparently lived past 90 until he deceased in his sleep one day.


I highly suspect one of the larger variables in prolonged health is physical activity, perhaps mental activity as well.  Our newer societies seem balanced more towards activities of rest and increasingly lower rates of stress.  Vaseline might even be a good choice as a nutrient source in a future where Monsanto Corp wish to own and control the world's supply of food, both physically and intellectually.

In fact, why isn't anyone asking where all the fruit trees are?
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