Thursday, August 31, 2006

Comfort for My Enemies

Two of my four grandparents lived to be 95 or older. Three of my four grandparents lived to be older than 85.

This means I'm going to live a long time, right?

Think again. Living a long life is not necessarily an inherited trait, as is hair color or what type of personality you have.

For example, the women pictured are identical twins. They are 92. One has aged gracefully, and the other has a host of problems, including dementia and incontinence. Scientists can conclude from a large study of twins such as these that genetics isn't as important as previously thought.

Read more here.


I just thank the man (or woman) upstairs that I haven't inherited some of my family's more annoying traits, including a kitten-like need for sleep and having a smaller attention span than most puppies.

This doesn't describe me at all.

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