Why do "Babyboomers" appear to be sicker?

Aging sort of wears us out too!

One factor is we are living longer so the accumulation factor is greater. Plus diseases like many cancers are diagnosed after the age of 60 so it was not a major concern 150 years ago when most people didn't live that long.

My theory is we are a generation that has been victimized by what they call progress, the evidence is all around us, our parents are the ones that are benefiting more than us because they lived most of their lives in a much cleaner world, in turn they are also getting the best medical care to keep them alive. I do a lot of research in my own time, I did this type of work for my living, statistics are fascinating but they can also be scary. Our generation was exposed to so many dangerous elements, even our classrooms has asbestos in the walls, our pencils contained lead, they put chemicals in our water, the list is endless and at the end of the day, our bodies are showing the effects of all this progress and although we do have better treatments today, we have already suffered too much damage. In closing one more statistic is that only twenty five percent of seniors will go past seventy five years of age, not very encouraging news I'm sorry to say.

I have found that the most powerful force is the mind. A positive mindset can manage stresses that are otherwise debilitating. On the other hand, a negative mindset can snatch defeat from victory. We don't get to choose what chimney the stork drops us into. We come into the world naked, and we leave the world naked. In between those two times, it is up to us to play whatever hand we are dealt. It becomes quite an accomplishment to play a poor hand well.

You said "Our generation was exposed to so many dangerous elements, even our classrooms has asbestos in the walls, our pencils contained lead, they put chemicals in our water, the list is endless and at the end of the day, our bodies are showing the effects of all this progress" - but that is true of the generations before us as well. Those things have been around for a long time, people sickened and died from them, and nobody knew why. Asbestos has been in use for over 100 years, mines and factories dumped raw pollutants into our water since the 1800's, lead pipes to carry water since ancient times. Our parents and grandparents had no vaccines, no antibiotics, no OSHA workplace protection...so in 1940, if you got pneumonia, hepatitis, cancer, or heart disease, or asbestosis, or ???, you were sick for a short while and you died. If you got pneumonia, scarlet fever, a strep infection or if your body wasn't strong you might not recover - or be left with lifelong health issues and die young.

What has changed is what we KNOW about both the pollutants and disease and illness. And how to treat them.

And life expectancy has changed - when my grandma died in 1957 at the age of 74, no one said "oh she died so young" but when my Dad died in at the same age 1999 we heard that over and over. Now I am nearly there, and don't even really think of myself and my contemporaries as "old" - even though our bodies are!
Sue

I am in total agreement with you, I just went into this new subject without a lot of preparation, hence I simply listed a few details to start it off..I am glad that you read my post and added much more information, thank you 😊

Sometimes I wonder about our location. My husband grew up in Australia, came over here in his early 20's. He is coming up to 78 and doing well. His whole family has passed, cancer a large factor. My grandmother lived on the east coast and passed at 96 yrs. My mother at 95 yrs. My father died at 74 yrs. He was a heavy smoker and when he realized it was dangerous, he couldn't quit. I believe we are healthier because we have learned what is good for our health, but we are the generation, along with the last one, to have been killing off this planet with out 'progress'. It seems that no one gave any thought to the downside of some of our progress. We are now in a position to do something about it, but it may be too little too late.

I totally agree, frouke, when you write that "we are a generation that has been victimized by what they call progress" and I agree completely when sueinmn adds that "What has changed is what we KNOW".

I hope neither of you will mind if I explain my take on these issues!

What we are beginning to know is the PRICE of progress.

Most people I see today, work harder, have less leisure time, and are just grateful to have jobs.

The generation before ours (and ours for a while) was enjoying the technological benefits of "progress", whereas now we are all seeing the start of its costs.

Just to be fair, this all applies differently to particular "classes" in different countries. The poorest probably enjoyed less of the benefits of "progress", but may well still pay the price, if technology reduces then from vulnerability to superfluity.

Well, we are older and closer to death. Ha!

Worried billionaires can do something about the financial inequality!