Next week my mother will celebrate her 88th birthday. On second thought, celebrate is probably the wrong word choice as mother is completely bedridden with congestive heart failure and osteoporosis. She's on oxygen 24 hrs a day and, because any stimulation triggers breathing difficulty, she's isolated herself from everyone but the caregivers who deliver her food and attempt to manage her hygiene. Mother didn't expect to live this long. Like her, your parents or grandparents, if born at the turn of the 20th century, could expect a lifespan of 45 years. In the 100 years since, technological advances and lifestyle choices have extended life expectancy to 75 years-with a couple of years for good measure for women, who live longer than men. Physiologically, based on the number of cell divisions in each organ, the human body should be capable of living to between 100 and 150 years. From that perspective, anything less should be considered an early death and true "middle-age" should not even start until age sixty. (As a sixty year old, I like that!)

I could go on with statistics re projected lifespan but the bottom line is, regardless of your age it's time to consider, do you want to live that long and, if you do, have you thought much about what the quality of that life will be?

Winston Churcill is often cited as an example by people attempting to defend bad habits we tend to believe shortens life. Despite cigars, whiskey, obesity and lack of exercise, Churchill lived to be ninety. I believe his longevity is a tribute to the loving relationship historians report he had with his wife, his ability to take efficient cat naps and the stimulating life he began when he became prime minister at age sixty five. I also believe that with adjustments to his lifestyle he might have enjoyed another few decades of useful life.

I'm also aware that it's only recently that I've thought so seriously about assuring the quality of my life into my later years. I like to think that the many years of attention to everything from brushing my teeth to exercising daily have set the stage for me to have a better later life than my mother whose mind is sharp but body has failed her.

Bottom line is mismanagement of health seems to assure a premature death or, worse than that, a life that leaves very little to look forward to. This week I, once again, heard Dr. Steven Blair deliver his passionate plea for exercise. Since you weren't there here's the synopsis. There is only ONE thing that prolongs life. It's regular exercise. His data, accrued over more than 20 years of research is what I'm going to hold on to the next time I think I've more important things to do than work out. Take my word for it. Exercise changes everything.