snow July 10th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
@ Ilene – yes, that’s exactly it – of course, an middle-aged person, especially in early cities in colder climes could still get things like tuberculosis, or cholera along with everyone else – but essentially, your comment is correct. Modern medicine high-tech stuff doesn’t add that much on to a life span once you hit middle age. And what fairly small benefit there is – no question, infectious disease control and good dental care help – is pretty much wiped out by things like smoking & obesity.
July 10th, 2010 at 7:43 pm
@ Ilene – yes, that’s exactly it – of course, an middle-aged person, especially in early cities in colder climes could still get things like tuberculosis, or cholera along with everyone else – but essentially, your comment is correct. Modern medicine high-tech stuff doesn’t add that much on to a life span once you hit middle age. And what fairly small benefit there is – no question, infectious disease control and good dental care help – is pretty much wiped out by things like smoking & obesity.