I saw an article in the newspaper that attracted my attention. The headline was, “Scientists Close To Cracking Key To Longevity.” Since I always thought longevity would be a nice thing to have, I read on.
It seems there are scientists who spend their time studying centenarians, which as you probably knew, are people over 100 years old. I was very interested as that number is on my horizon and since I just passed birthday #88 I will be there fairly soon. So I read on.
Apparently these scientists are examining the DNA of really old people and what they are finding surprised me. At least some of them agree that the primary reason some people get to be that old is simply a matter of genes. They say that the research shows those with the proper genes more or less automatically bypass diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease and many of the other things that tend to appear as one ages.
I suppose it was reading this that caused me to have trouble sleeping that night. It probably was a dream but I thought I had a conversation with my parents.
They started by apologizing. My mother said, “We wanted to congratulate you on getting to be 100 years old but also, we want you to know we are sorry we gave you so much trouble about eating sugar, and fats and carbohydrates. We only wanted you to live a long life and it turns out that didn’t have much to do with it. It was all the genes we passed on.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
"You mean all that cod liver oil didn't do anything?"
"Apparently not. Just genes."
I asked, “What about smoking and drinking? Remember, I quit those in order to live longer.”
“We’re sorry but evidently there was no need to; it’s only the genes.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
“And what about that girl on the next street you wouldn’t let me have anything to do with because she had “questionable morals?”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. Just genes. We really are sorry but we didn’t know.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
I sighed and admitted it probably wouldn’t have made much difference but it might have made the 100 years go by a little faster. I told them, “Doing it your way sure took a long time.”
In unison, my parents said, “But we didn’t know.“ and disappeared.
I woke up and thought about it. At least by giving up smoking and drinking I did save me lots of money. But if that’s actually true, I wonder where the money is.
The Old Professor
Carmel, CA
March 27, 2010
3/27/2011
3/13/2011
IT'S IN THE GENES
I saw an article in the newspaper that attracted my attention. The headline read, “Scientists Close To Cracking Key To Longevity.” Since I am close to longevity myself, I read on.
It seems there are scientists who spend their time studying centenarians, which as you know, are people over 100 years old. I was interested as that number is on my horizon and I plan on being there fairly soon. So I read on.
Apparently these scientists are examining the DNA of really old people and what they are finding surprised me. At least some of them agree that the primary reason some people get to be that old is simply a matter of genes. They say those with the proper genes kind of automatically bypass diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease and many of the other things that tend to appear as one ages.
I suppose it was reading this that caused me to have trouble sleeping that night. In fact, it probably was a dream but I thought I had a conversation with my parents.
They started by apologizing. My mother said, “We wanted to congratulate you on getting to be 100 years old but also, we want you to know we are sorry we gave you so much trouble about eating sugar, and fats and carbohydrates. We only wanted you to live a long life and it turns out that didn’t have much to do with it. It was all the genes we passed on.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
"You mean that cod liver oil didn't do anything?"
"Apparently not. Just genes."
I asked, “What about smoking and drinking? Remember, I quit those in order to live longer.”
“We’re sorry but apparently it’s genes.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
“And what about that girl on the next street you wouldn’t let me have anything to do with because she had “questionable morals?”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. Just genes. We really are sorry but we didn’t know.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
I sighed and admitted it probably wouldn’t have made much difference but it might have made the 100 years go by faster. I told them, “Doing it your way sure took a long time.”
In unison, my parents said, “But we didn’t know.“ and disappeared.
I woke up and thought about it. I suppose when I gave up smoking and drinking I probably did save a lot of money. But if that was the case, I wondered where it was.
The Old Professor
Carmel, CA
March 17, 2011
It seems there are scientists who spend their time studying centenarians, which as you know, are people over 100 years old. I was interested as that number is on my horizon and I plan on being there fairly soon. So I read on.
Apparently these scientists are examining the DNA of really old people and what they are finding surprised me. At least some of them agree that the primary reason some people get to be that old is simply a matter of genes. They say those with the proper genes kind of automatically bypass diabetes, Alzheimer's Disease and many of the other things that tend to appear as one ages.
I suppose it was reading this that caused me to have trouble sleeping that night. In fact, it probably was a dream but I thought I had a conversation with my parents.
They started by apologizing. My mother said, “We wanted to congratulate you on getting to be 100 years old but also, we want you to know we are sorry we gave you so much trouble about eating sugar, and fats and carbohydrates. We only wanted you to live a long life and it turns out that didn’t have much to do with it. It was all the genes we passed on.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
"You mean that cod liver oil didn't do anything?"
"Apparently not. Just genes."
I asked, “What about smoking and drinking? Remember, I quit those in order to live longer.”
“We’re sorry but apparently it’s genes.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
“And what about that girl on the next street you wouldn’t let me have anything to do with because she had “questionable morals?”
“It wouldn’t have mattered. Just genes. We really are sorry but we didn’t know.”
My father nodded and said, “Yes.”
I sighed and admitted it probably wouldn’t have made much difference but it might have made the 100 years go by faster. I told them, “Doing it your way sure took a long time.”
In unison, my parents said, “But we didn’t know.“ and disappeared.
I woke up and thought about it. I suppose when I gave up smoking and drinking I probably did save a lot of money. But if that was the case, I wondered where it was.
The Old Professor
Carmel, CA
March 17, 2011
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