When It’s Too Late
This article is meant to scare you. It scares me just writing about it. It was prompted by my reading of the death of country music star Toby Keith, who passed away at 62 years old of stomach cancer. But I feel the same way whenever I learn about any premature death. HE WAS ONLY 62 YEARS OLD! No one deserves to die that young.
I was just getting started on my later-life journey at that age. If I had died at that age, my daughters would have been 8 years old and 5 years old, and my own life history would have repeated itself with two young children growing up without a living, vital father.
My own father and mother (I was adopted at birth so no shared genes) died at 47 and 55 respectively, both from cancer. They never got to experience the wonderful time of life I am enjoying now. So this theme strikes a deep personal chord within me on many levels.
There is a crisis in this modern world of premature and mostly avoidable death. When someone died prematurely, the old model was that something just went wrong, without warning. Now we are beginning to learn that cancers, heart attacks, strokes, dementia, and metabolic diseases like diabetes all have a common source.
The newer model that is slowly replacing that “it happened out of nowhere” one is that the process leading up to these dire diagnoses is much more gradual, and preventable, than we once thought. They all have increasingly been linked to chronic low-level inflammation and lower immune function caused by modern diets, stressful lifestyles, and lack of movement. This can usually be first spotted in our mid-forties, although much of modern medicine either doesn’t pay attention to the early warning signs from a prevention standpoint or treats the symptoms with drugs, so we don’t notice them. This doesn’t make them go away.
No one knows where the tipping point is reached, that is, when the condition has a name that modern medicine can diagnose and attempt to treat. The average diagnosis age for cancer, dementia and heart conditions is 65. Once it happens it is usually too late to stay healthy for the rest of your life. If you’re lucky, you will get a second chance with treatment and recovery. Chances are, though, you will never be as strong and robust as you once were unless you double down and really make the effort required to move more, eat healthier, and address stress in your life. Unfortunately, once you receive a serious diagnosis, you will be preoccupied with treatment as well as preventing that specific condition from recurring. You could live in fear of it returning a second time with consequences that are worse than the first time.
The best way to avoid these serious and often fatal diseases is prevention by following a lifestyle filled with movement, healthy and natural food, good sleep, and much lower stress levels than we are used to in our modern existence. When should we start this prevention regimen? The earlier the better!
I was lucky to be able to start around age 60, but I wish I had started much, much earlier. Movement and nutrition are easier to address. Stress has many “underground” and usually personal sources that need a good dose of honest introspection and often professional help in the form of a psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, or coach.
I invite you to do your own research of this “newer” model of health and disease prevention and assess how your own lifestyle might be setting you up for a “when it’s too late” surprise. Good sources are Dr. Peter Attia’s book, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, and Dr. Mark Hyman’s advice and many books, which focus on using food and movement as medicine to support longevity, energy, mental clarity, and happiness.
Remember, there is no harm in being scared of what you find out. Fear can be a good motivator. It has served us for millennia, helping us to confront danger, whether that danger is immediate or in the future. It can serve to focus you to follow a preventative health path. For me, fear is a powerful ally when it comes to choosing health over preventable illness.
