Would you want to know how long you will live?
(PHOTO CREDIT: THINKSTOCK)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, the only certain things in life are death and taxes. Of course, one has always been a little easier to calculate than the other… until now perhaps.
A Spanish company has developed a blood test that it claims can give you a pretty good idea of how long you'll live.
The test, called Life Length, can allegedly convert your life expectancy to numbers, and will reportedly be available in Britain later this year according to the UK paper The Independent.
The simple blood test measures something on your chromosomes called telomeres which scientists say can help determine your biological age rather than chronological age. The shorter the telomeres are, the closer you are to death.
Researchers say the test can provide valuable information including a person's risk of illnesses such as heart disease, Alzheimer's and cancer.
Some scientists and medical ethicists have raised concerns that people who take the test will take on a fatalistic attitude and stray from healthy practices like eating right, exercising and quitting smoking. Critics also worry the information could be used by insurance companies as well as companies that could make and market fake anti-aging drugs and treatments.
But you can bet people will line up for the Life Length test as soon as it comes out. It will be sold over-the-counter in Britain for the equivalent of $700 U.S. dollars
Here’s my question to you: Would you want to know how long you will live?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Robert:
Yes. I would love to know how long I have to live so I can put into perspective all the things I haven't done and start doing them!
Joyce in Marshall, Texas:
No, I'd then start worrying about what I couldn't do that I wanted to do. Seems to me, the best alternative is to live each day as if it's your last. It could be.
Sean in Michigan:
Only if the answer is "forever".
John:
Sure I want to know. And I'm ready to fork over the $700. And on the way home from the test, I'll probably get run over by a truck.
Paul in New Port Richey, Florida:
Sure. Then I would know how much scotch to buy before the prices go up again.
Sian:
Not everyone dies of natural causes or even disease, so what's the point as long as people are driving or shooting guns? PS there are ways to get around taxes, death is the only definite.
Dana in Montana:
No. For me the planning that might be a benefit of knowing would not make up for the loss of the hope and optimism I have not knowing.
Bud:
If I knew I had 3-5 years, I'd get a Turbo Porsche or Ferrari, check in to the Carlyle Hotel on a regular basis and not worry about a damn thing. Just enjoy the time left on the planet. Now some will say that this thinking is shallow and self-absorbed. Well, my answer is. You're exactly right.
Bizz in Quarryville, Pennsylvania:
I already know when I am going to die. It will be May 21 this year when the world ends. Thursday will be the last time I get to answer your questions, so it better be a doozy. Hope to get to meet you standing in line at the pearly gates.
John in Weaver, Alabama:
Jack, you're afraid to take the test because you might find out you died 2 years ago.
Ed in Port Jefferson, New York:
Ignorance is bliss. Enjoy.
Mike in Minneapolis:
If my wife found out I spent $700 dollars for this test I can tell you EXACTLY how long I would live.
@jackcafferty on Twitter
I personally wouldn't because it is like in the movie Paycheck where he says "Show someone their future and you take away the mystery and they have no future". I would like to enjoy living my life with adventure and with fun.
I wouldn't mind knowing a rough approximation but not the exact date and time. If I could find out whether or not I was going to to young, middle aged, or old, that I could live with and it would help me gage how to live my life. But knowing that I will die on Thrusday, June 15, 2027, at 4:15 PM Central Standard Time would be a curse.
Maybe. It would be fun to run up all the credit cards on the companies that take so much joy in screwing us over and then drop dead.
Yes. You don't want to outlive your money and it would remove the uncertainty in financial planning for retirement.
Jack,
Absolutely not. That would be tantamount to living with a pronounced death sentence.
Jim
Reno, Nevada
No I wouldn't. My father died at age 56 on a plane return from vacation. There were 2 doctors on board who worked on him. They said he was dead when it hit the floor. My mom had lung cancer, it was estimated she had 18 months. She lived almost 5 years more. I don't believe I'd want to wake up each day knowing I was on borrowed time.
Not again.
The first time I went through life here on Earth is was kinda novel knowing what my exit date was.
This time I think I'd rather wait for the Big Surprise.
Thanks for asking though.
Would you want to know how long you will live?
Oh NO, I only want to know that when I am absent from the body,
I will be present with my sweet Lord Who has died for me, and given me all thing visible and invisible, a free world and a free heaven –
2nd Corinthians 5: 8
I would like to keep it just like it is , a secret. I think it would put more stress than what we have now just contending with survival.
tampa, fl i'm sure my disability insurance would love to know that one. myself, i am surprised i have lived this long with the limited care my hmo allows me and the incompetent doctors administer. i live just to piss them off, so, no, let's keep it a secret.
No.I will leave that up to God to decide when it's time to go.
Jack: No. I like surprises!!!
I already know when I am going to die. It will be May 21 this year when the world ends. Thursday will be the last time I get to answer your questions, so it better be a doozy. Hope to get to meet you standing in line at the pearly gates.
Sure. I, then, would know how much scotch to buy before the prices go up again.
Seeing that the world is going to end on Saturday, I guess I know how long I'm going to live. I just wonder whether it's Eastern Daylight Saving Time or Pacific.
When my mom got cancer she specifically told the doctor she did not want to know how long she had to live. We were able to enjoy her for 3 years after that diagnosis without the finality of a death sentence clouding our final time together. Life is for living. Not counting down the minutes until time runs out.
But since I believe there is life after death, why getting in a hurry. just hope next one is better than this one.
As freaked out as I would be...YES I would like to know so that I could actually START living!
Southern NJ, USA
I would love to know and make it ASAP!
Only if I had a terminal illness. It's not the quantity but the quality that counts........
I know exactly how long I will live. I will live up to the time that I die.
Yes, if my longevity prognosis was that I would live to be a healthy 96 years old and that I would pass away in my sleep after a nice fulfilling romp in the sack.
If you know the future, you will change the present.
That might not be, a good thing.
With the Kochplicans trying to steal more of our money, by way of Medicare and Social Security cuts-of which we all pay for by our payroll deductions. But, our "hired" help in DC, will keep theirs. They're are, our very own Royalty!!- I don't think we'll make it past seventy anyway. We'll all drop dead at work!! Keep on rock'n in the free world, and keep voting for the Tea/Kochplican Party!! The benefit's you cut, will probably be your own.
No Jack, I already face thousands of anxieties daily that inch me precariously closer to the appointed day. Knowing when or where it will be is one anxiety I can afford to wave, just like waving the sex of my unborn children. What sense does it make riding life of the suspense that gives real meaning to life such as predicting the day of birth, sex of the unborn child and now date of death. The later will rob us of the healthy uncertainties that drive life. For instance if I know that I will die in December, does it still make sense to continue to strive for success?
I already know how long i will live Jack. I will live until i die. Next question.
Yep – For instance, if I knew I had 3-5 years. I'd get a Turbo Porsche or Farrari, Check in to the Carlyle Hotel on a regualr basis and not worry about a damn thing. Just enjoying the time left on the planet. Now some will say that this thinking is shallow and self absorbed. Well, my answer is. You're exactly right. Now where's my Porsche.
Hell no! Life has been full of suprisesm and I expect Death to be just as courteous.
Sure Jack,
Let's start with Politicians and Scientists and Billionaires. I bet research would increase so much it would put "Moore's Law" to shame. What a great idea!!! Tell everyone that has 'Power" to change "The Status Quo" exactly when and what they are going to die from. Bet our Tax dollars wouldn't be wasted on BS then.
I'm curious if I will get my biblical three score and ten, but the statistical analysis they did is only capable of finding the average lifespan of a group of people with the same variable health traits but has NO WAY of determining how long any one individual will live. Life insurance actuaries will love it for variable pricing based on a person's health but if they put it on-line it would just be a fun parlor game for an individual.
Not really, I hope that because I have given my faith and life to Jesus, that I know where I'm going. The only reason to know is to make everyone I love and care for aware of how important they are to me.We sometimes get so busy, we forget to tell them. Sincerely; J. M. Bell Ohio
People do not live in test tubes Jack and trying to predict how long someone will live from genetic material is a waste of time and effort. Even if they tell you that you might live another 50 years you also might get hit by a bus on your way home. Genetic data can not predict that one.
As long as the information is not a "to the minute," life expectancy why not. However, I do not see how this could be accurate. There are constant discoveries in medicine, new drugs are developed, etc. Of course some half wit will try sky diving without a parachute, swim with sharks or some thing else equally suicidal. Now if my doctor were to tell me that would live to be 175 years old my only question would be how does a man that looks like a raisin get a date?
No, can't say that I would.
Heck no (to be polite). I'd have probably lived a much different life if I knew I wasn't going to "shuffle off this mortal coil," and the bard says. My mother used to say, "If I'd have known I would live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself." I have to agree with that.
For that matter, the predictors would most likely be wrong, and you'd be in the middle of doing or saying something profound, when ....
It doesn't matter as long as I out live my enemies.
Jack, that depends on many intangibles such as health, quality of life,and family. Would you also know what will eventually do you in? Would you want details? Even if they are gory? No way!
No. For me the planning that might be a benefit of knowing would not make up for the loss of the hope and optimism I have not knowing.
I wouldn't be scared knowing when I was going to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens.
That's scary!
No, I wouldn't personally but I can think of several who probably would have: John Dillinger; Adolph Hitler; and Osama bin Laden to name just 3. People living on the edge would probably be so inclined but those with a love of life would not. It would diminish the joy of each new day.
Gary in Scottsdale, Arizona
I already have a general idea. Look at your parents and what they passed from. My family happens to be long livers. I expecting that also. I do believe that when your number is up it is UP–No Matter What. I could get hit by a car crossing the street. Too many variables. And, to just Know to know my answer is NO!
Only if the answer is "forever".
Maybe it's just me, but this sounds like a really bad idea. We have enough nuts right now since the Republicans dug the Birchers out of the woodwork and gave them the reins. Can you imagine hundreds of thousands more of us exhibiting his kind of behavior daily as our last day approaches? No thanks.
Not much point.
Sure, you could live your life so that you've used up all your possessions and money by the time you were predicted to die... but what if you keep living anyway?
You'll be as screwed as the folks who think the world is going to end on May 21 and gave away everything.
Yes, so i could spend my money faster or slower depending how long i'm gonna live.
No Jack. Hope and interest are two things that keep people alive, and if they knew the date of their demise, they'd worry about it and probably do crazy things trying to cram a lifetime into the time they had left. Not knowing is one of the great mysteries of life.
I am a diabetic holding on at 78. I would rather see the United States
live on. The Senate vote that failed to provide a token payment on our
deficit broke my heart that some thing that simple was beyond their
capability. I consider the people that voted no dead not alive in my world. Is the devil really that strong.
No, I'd then start worrying about wha I couldn't do that I wanted to do. Seems to me, the best alternative is to live each day as if it's your last. It could be.
Who says I don't know already?
I would not and do not...and if my life is gonna end on 5/21, so be it–I just don't want it to hurt...
Would you want to know how long you will live?
So let's say the doctors say you will live to be 90, but you step outside to grab a cab and are hit by a bus at age 60. Kind of blows that out of the water. But if you know you only have a few year left verses 30 you are going to take better care.
As for me, sure, why not.
Jenna
Roseville CA
Jack,
No. I want to remain blissfully unaware.
Absolutely. It would make it easier to plan dying broke.
Better yet, dying owing money.
No it wold be a distraction.
That would take all the life out of life. I'll bet the insurance companies are funding this research in a big way, but will never admit it.
Yes, I would like to know when that fatal car crash will happen. Maybe I'll stay in that day.
Sure, why not. I'd take such foolishness with a grain of salt though. I mean really, you're going to tell me how long I will live?
Yes Jack on that day I would buy a AK47
For $5 bucks I can find out the same thing from a gypsy lady who looks at my palm.
What scares me about a life expectancy test are false positives. Just like Cancer and HIV, false positives can create some serious anxiety. So, I don't think it's a good idea when someone finds out they only have 6 months to live.
Absolutely not. Would be very creepy to know your own expiration date.
Jack - I'd like to live longer than you and Wolf appear in the Situation Room.
Joe in Delray Beach, Florida
Positives:
This is the Information Age. (How long will I live?) is information. I feel I am entitled to this information.
Negatives:
Someone once said that armies are only possible as long as the soldier does not believe in his or her own mortality.
Actualities:
If my PC had a button that when pressed would yield this information, I would press that button. But, I would hold myself away from the PC, and I would be sweating.
"No! it would take all the fun out of life. I also think this blood-test will prove nothing! Maybe seventy years ago it may have been possible, but with all these medications available to date, and the thousands still to come; they would be way out of sinc!"
If my wife found out I spent $700 dollars for this test I can tell you EXACTLY how long I would live.
Unless this test can also predict things like auto accidents, natural disasters, the likelihood of being a random murder victim or – and I'd pay for this test – being bored to death by a politician's speechifying, then knowing how long or short my telomeres are is pretty useless.
No way , Jack. Death is a mystery better served cold. It's bad enough I'm well along on this road of no return rather than know where it ends.
I'd rather be surprised than informed. Isn't that what life's all about? This road to demise should be left to hope rather than despair.
If someone could tell you how long you would live then insurance companies would target you which would lead to discrimination.
You bet! Tthat way I could spend all my money down to the last day and tell all the people I don't care the day before what pain in the asses they were.
No. I am older then dirt now and every day it get wrost.new pains every day. also my temper has got bad . When i was a young man i thought you could trust policemen banks, our goverment and preacher. now everyone has going bad do any thing to make money lie about ever thing that does not suit your belives and just hate any one who tells the truth. we re for ever swing to far to the left or right do one omites that we are wrong or we lead the poor and dumb over the edge to get our way could the world end o may 21, 2011. who knows may god bless every one
There is a season for everything and I'm enjoying this season. There is no reason to rush into the next season.
Science has proven to be wrong in many instances and I personally would not trust any one to tell me how long I would live for God only knows and no one else. The knowledge of science wouldn't do me any good but would only mess up my life by causing me to worry every second of every day.
Is that a trick question?
I'd rather know what I might die of. All you have to do is get a good Dr. If he/she feels you are in good shape get out and live. Dying is overstated.
Yep, you bet I'd want to know. Matter-of-fact, when available, I'll be heading to UK to buy one. When will it be available in the USA?
As many people often say, what I don't know won't hurt me. When my death arises, let it happen. I'd rather not know so I don't think about it. Besides who says this is accurate anyway?
Manassas, VA
Matt
I plan to make it past 200 Jack. Take selected Superfoods and ignore most of what the medical community says. And meditate – a lot.
No, because it would be one more thing to compare with others.
It's a matter of personal opinion. This shouldn't be illegal or anything. If you want to get the test, take it. But there HAS TO be government regulation on this. Namely for insurance companies using this to deny life insurance or health insurance to people whose telomeres are not as long as others.
The test wouldn't matter anyway, because what about murder or accidents? You can die those ways too.
I would love to know how long I have to live so I can put into perspective all the things I haven't done and start doing them!
Jack,
Sure I want to know. And I'm ready to fork over the $700. And on the way home from the test, I'll probably get run over by a truck.
Personally, I do not want to know how much longer I have to live, however I think it needs to be a mandatory requirement for all those running for political office, especially the position of President. I wouldn't want a short timer in that office with the ability to press that magical button that could end our world as we know it
Deb
Maryland
Yes, I would take the test. At my age, I would live my life differently if I had some idea of my life expectancy.
I'd love to know my death date, but it's not worth seven hundred bucks to find out.
Not everyone dies of natural causes or even disease, so what's the point as long as people are driving or shooting guns. PS there are ways to get around taxes, death is the only definite.
I would only want to know how long I had to live if it's longer than I had figured.
With the economy the way it is, who can afford the $700? You would die trying to get the money just to get gas to go buy the kit!
Hell no, I don't want to know. I think the generally accepted range of 75-90 works just fine for us. Anything created to get more specific and granular is pretty creepy and borders on palm reading. No thank you.
And yes – insurance companies would indeed use it for determining and altering actuarial premiums for policy prices. The Republicans will also use it as an argument to raise the retirement age. While it's strictly biological, I am also curious to know how a blood test is going to predict auto accidents, being in the wrong place at the wrong time and work related stresses....hhhmmmmm.
Yes.I would like to know this and I hope i live longer than Donald Trump's hair......
Definitely not. I would never be able to it off the back of my mind. It would affect everything i do, negatively. On the bright side, it would make me start working on my bucket list faster 🙂
Heck no Jack! Only God know when we'll die and these drugs will make people not to believe in the fate God has given us for our lives, and believe only on materialistic objects for our predetermined fate.
I find the price a bit prohibitive, but I would definitely want to know how long I have left to live. That way I can make sure to live each moment as best as I can. The way we are now, I take life for granted, not caring about the quality of how I spend it, yet fearful that I might lose it. When I'm aware that my time here is not indefinite, I will pay more quality attention to what I have left and the world will be a better place for all.
Absolutely not. Knowing when you'll die would hamper all positivity from your life and leave you with the dreadful feeling of the end every day you wake up.
Benjamin Franklin was right, We know how much tax we should pay or receive around March, so we should know how long we live about the same time ! I get this device if it come out before March !
This will definitely create a fear psychosis in a person leading to delusions and derangement of mind.
Only if I knew I that I was going to be hit by a Mack truck. It would give me the chance to avoid the roads.
I'll be 63 at the end of this month. The end is close enough. But heaven help us if the insurance companies decide to require this test.
Who cares, you can live to be a 150, but you could be in an fatal accident at anytime.
Some pastor is selling books telling us the World will end on May 21, 2011 and now some Spanish company is charging $700 to tell me how long I live, no thanks to both. There will always be people to separate us from our money because we have become such a vulnerable society.
No, one more thing to worry about. I don't even go to the doctors, I dont want even a clue.
I'm past retirement age. Whatever answer this test could give me would be depressing. I can't afford to live another 25-30 years and if I was given 3-4 years I can't afford to do my "bucket list".
I live every day ad if it is my last day anyway. I've found that the people who are afraid of death are afraid of life. Today is the last day of my life because I don't know if I'll wake up tomorrow or not. Knowing when I am going to die is not important.
I would most definitely want to know when I would die and from what illness. You see my mother has Alzheimer's disease and it is a terrible way to live your life. If I knew I was going to follow her foot steps I could then plan for my future. I would never put my family or myself thru this nightmare.
Pam
New York
While it would be interesting to know, call it a parlor trick, there are just too many outside factors for it to be reliable.
You could suddenly lose your job, causing stress, ulcers, lower quality food (Ramen Noodle diet) etc lowering your life expectancy. You could get a promotion with the opposite effect.
You could come into money (lotto, inheritance, etc,) buy a super-fast super-shiny new car and kill yourself in it.
You could have a kid, changing your outlook on life to a healthier one, etc.
The list goes on, and on, and on.
I am 79 years old and I absolutely do not want to know when I am going to die. Only God knows that! And it might be tomorrow.
I would be scared to go to bed this evening. And don't tell me you are not scared of dying.
Bill
absolutley not, i think i just wanna be surprised. some things you just dont need to know in life
I am serving 150 to life, so please send me one. Let's go Mets !
That test is absolutely absurd. No one can predict how long a person will live due to so many unforeseen circumstances. One could get struck by lightening, get hit by a Mack truck,drown, die in a car accident, get hit by a train, get swept up by a tornado, killed by combat in a war, killed by a mugging or just by a freak accident. What a waste of money and time. Just enjoy each moment as it's given to you and let the rest take care of itself.
Right, you pay $700-$800 to find out how long you will based on your DNA? Suppose it comes back saying, "Hey, you are living right and have another 60 good years. So what? Two days after you get the results you can still be killed by a drunk driver, a drive by shooter or a meteorite.
"Well I can't remember the last streak on my Computer game. But this one is running at 206, without a loss!"
I do not believe that it is scientifically possible to determine the length of life one has left based on the length of the teleomeres in one's DNA. While the length of the teleomeres shortens directly proportional to the number of times a cell has divided, it does not give any basis to predict how much longer an individual will live. Imagine the wasted money that would have been spent had northern Japanese had their DNA tested before their recent earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster. The question is based on a faulty assumption.
The question should be whether or not one wants to be comotose between now and November 1, 2012 in order to keep from having to hear the idiot brigade of politics.
Jack,
I would like to know how long I have left on this earht but not enough to pay $700 to find out. Well, let's see...can I charge it?
Boynton Beach, FL