How Not To Die Young
To die at an old age, you first need to not die at a young age.
In 2006, at age 63, the Scottish comedian Billy Connolly launched his tour called:
“Too Old To Die Young.”
He had reached his 60s, and in his view, if he were to die now, he wouldn’t be young.
This newsletter focuses on longevity and avoiding the major causes of death at an older age.
We have covered these extensively, but to reiterate, these are:
Cardiovascular Disease.
Cancer.
Dementia.
All of these are mostly preventable, at least until an older age.
But this all assumes you get to an ‘older age’ in the first place.
This assumes, like Billy Connolly, that you get to a point where you are “too old to die young”.
But what do ‘young’ people die from?
There is no magic line between young and old, but to make things convenient, let’s look at two separate age categories:
Age 50 to 69.
Age 15 to 49.
Understanding what the causes of death are in these age groups can provide us with valuable information so that when we do die, we are at least dying when we are ‘old’.
Let’s start with the 50 to 69-year age bracket.
To most people's surprise, the leading causes of death are still heart disease and cancer.
With cardiovascular disease killing about 25% more people every year than cancer.
So, in general, to not die young, the same principles apply to avoiding death at an older age.
But this is global data.
What about more developed nations such as the USA and Europe?
What we see now is a slightly different picture.
In the USA, cancer is now the leading cause of death in this age bracket.
In Europe, cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death but is almost on par with cancer deaths.
So again, whether you are looking at global or developed nations.
The leading causes of death are the same.
Heart disease and cancer.
And the principles for avoiding these conditions in this age category are the same for older categories.
Just in case you need a reminder, I have covered them here.
OK.
So, if you get to age 50, having been mindful of your cardiometabolic health, you stand a good chance of deferring the onset of heart disease and cancer.
But what are the leading causes of death for those under 50?
You guessed it….
Heart disease and cancer.
But something else has slipped into third place.
Road traffic accidents.
And this is also global data.
When we look at US and European data, things start to change in a very concerning way.
In the United States, drug overdose is now the leading cause of death.
In Europe, while heart disease and cancer are still number one and two, suicide is now at number 3.
In the US, rates of drug overdose causing death have risen rapidly over the last 20 years.
And it is not because people are using a lot more drugs; it is mainly down to the increased use of one drug.
Fentanyl.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that has a much higher potency than other opioids, such as heroin. It is often mixed in with other drugs, which is why people inadvertently overdose and die from it.
Many of those who die from a fentanyl overdose had no idea they were even using fentanyl.
But the age range of 15 to 49 masks an important issue.
People in the 40 to 49 year age bracket mostly die from heart disease and cancer.
It is quite a different story for those under age 40.
The large red shaded area refers to ‘External Causes’.
Which is a rather dry way of saying drug overdose, suicide, violence and road traffic accidents.
The chances of dying at younger than 40 years of age is small.
But the reason for death in this age category is very clear and it certainly is not from heart disease or cancer.
But equally preventable.
Just as there are risk factors for dying from heart disease and cancer at age 75, there are also risk factors we can avoid for death at much younger ages.
Globally, those risk factors are high blood pressure, alcohol and unsafe sex.
In the United States and Europe the leading risk factors are alcohol and drug use.
Even within this ‘external causes’ dataset lies another obscured fact.
It is largely a male problem.
It’s not that females are not dying from these causes also, but just a lot more males are.
For example.
Road Traffic Accidents - Males > Females.
Suicide - Males > Females.
Homicide - Males > Females.
So how do you die old and not die young?
No matter which way you look at it, heart disease and cancer are leading causes of death in all age groups, for both sexes, in all parts of the world.
But for younger people, particularly males and especially in the United States
Suicide
Drug overdose
Road traffic accidents
Trauma & Homicide
Are where the risk is greatest.
Although not simple, these causes are all avoidable.
So let’s all aspire to be like Billy Connolly.
To one day be “Too Old To Die Young”.