I’ve heard this referred to as programmers syndrome. The tight hamstrings also lead to frequent lower back pain as does the lack of movement. It takes as little as 15 minutes of sitting for your spinal discs to compress. Moving your legs restores the blood flow. Similarly sitting makes it difficult for your heart to pump blood from your feet. And if course there’s the unsightly posture as well. All of which is restored with regular stretches, yoga, etc. I’m no medical professional as I’m sure those who are can tell but these are the things I’ve learned over the years in my own experience. A lot is within our control but I also know a lot of people who have done everything possible from a dietary and exercise standpoint and still need a bypass relatively early in life. I have an in law who was a surgeon himself. He came home one day after work and his wife asks how’d it go today and he said oh not bad I ran a few tests recently and checked myself into the or for a stint. He didn’t bother to tell anyone before and might have not have said anything afterward either. We look at the medical profession largely through the lens of how our insurers and policy makers want us to view medicine. We also see anecdotal information that fools us into thinking one thing when it’s really another. Often times the most analytical minds can forget that it takes quite a bit of study and rigor to reach a valid conclusion. And at the same time we are seeing that the human body is not just one thing but billions of cells and bacteria that are as different from person to person as fingerprints are unique to the individual. What disturbs me most about these articles is that they very subtly shape the mindsets and opinions we hold to be skeptical of surgery in general and to be skeptical of surgeries late in life as luxuries of a bygone era unfit for today’s ideal lifestyle of personal discipline and pious austerity. As far as I’m concerned we haven’t yet scratched the surface of what’s possible to extend life to 100 or even 200 or beyond. And what a fantastic exploration that would be - equally as rewarding as becoming an interplanetary species. Sadly the current mindset seems to be reverting to an age where 45 was old and 55 was an ideal time to die and just think of the cost savings windfall we’d have if everyone were to agree.
