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Bioethicist At National Institutes of Health: "Why I Hope To Die At 75"

Posted by samzenpus on from the end-of-the-line dept.

HughPickens.com writes Ezekiel J. Emanuel, director of the Clinical Bioethics Department at the US National Institutes of Health, writes at The Atlantic that there is a simple truth that many of us seem to resist: living too long renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining, a state that may not be worse than death but is nonetheless deprived. "It robs us of our creativity and ability to contribute to work, society, the world. It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic." Emanuel says that he is isn't asking for more time than is likely nor foreshortening his life but is talking about the kind and amount of health care he will consent to after 75. "Once I have lived to 75, my approach to my health care will completely change. I won't actively end my life. But I won't try to prolong it, either." Emanuel says that Americans seem to be obsessed with exercising, doing mental puzzles, consuming various juice and protein concoctions, sticking to strict diets, and popping vitamins and supplements, all in a valiant effort to cheat death and prolong life as long as possible. "I reject this aspiration. I think this manic desperation to endlessly extend life is misguided and potentially destructive. For many reasons, 75 is a pretty good age to aim to stop."

14 of 478 comments (clear)

  1. The WHO by gbjbaanb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "hope I die before I get old".... until I get old, that is, and then I expect to scrap life along as much as humanly possible.

    1. Re:The WHO by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We'll see how he feels when he's 75.

    2. Re:The WHO by amiga3D · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I can't say how I will feel at 75 but already at 55 I'm thinking that I'm not all that desperate to live forever. What's the point of living when their is no real enjoyment? When it hurts to get out of bed and you can't go and do what you want when you want? When you aren't living but just existing and waiting to die? I can see his point easily enough. I'm pretty sure that if I get cancer after 70 I'm just going to start the bucket list. I don't want to be 90 laying in bed waiting for someone to come change my diaper.

    3. Re:The WHO by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My thoughts exactly. He'll change his mind.

      Quite likely, especially since his basic premise is wrong. Many people get dementia as they age, but many others don't. It is not inevitable. I know bright, active people in their 90s. We are making a lot of progress at understanding the causes of Alzheimer's and other debilitating diseases of old age. His future may not be as bleak as he imagines. On the other hand, he may already be losing his grip on reality, since he believes that American are "obsessed" with exercising, and doing mental puzzles. A quick glance at obesity rates, and reality TV popularity, should disabuse him of that belief.

    4. Re:The WHO by nucrash · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I was thinking about Larry Ellison being 70 and still wanting to work and in fact, actually wanting to take a position where he can continue to be creative instead of one handling the day to day business.

      At the same time, my Grandfather passed away last year at age ninety-one. He was weeks away from being ninety-two. When asked about how old he wanted to live, he responded, "My dad lived to be ninety-two, and I think that's a good age, so I want to be ninety-two."

      Towards the end, he was being despondent and spent most of his days sleeping. There were times where he would be lucid and say some fantastic things, but for the most part, I could tell he was ready to go. He had lived a good life. Many of us in the family felt that he was due as he lived his last year in a nursing home and didn't really want to even do that.

      I do think that quality of life should be included in decisions to prolong life. Terry Schaivo was a case where there was nearly zero potential to improve her life. Other times, I sense that some of these hospital administrations are doing what they can to bilk insurance companies in order to extend a person's life regardless of the eventuality of their passing. Not to sound completely inhumane, but if a person is going to continue their existence by suffering, are we being humane by prolonging their existence.

      There are some cases, like with Stephen Hawking, where an individual wants so much to contribute to the world that they want to exist. Because of this, there should not be any hard limit put in as far as a person's life to which we should consider ending health care.

      --
      Place something witty here
    5. Re:The WHO by Fjandr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I doubt the GP is drawing those conclusions from the distress of relatives, but rather from direct interaction with dementia patients.

      You've never lived with someone who has advanced dementia, have you? I suppose you could be on the autism spectrum and be unable to understand body language that is obvious to everyone else. When you learn how mental trauma translates into actions, you can come to pretty obvious conclusions about the mental state of someone by those same actions, even if they are unable to articulate what's going on in their head.

      When someone regularly descends into fits of sobbing when certain things happen, it's pretty easy to come to the conclusion that, hey, there's something disturbing this person. You don't need to be in their head to figure out things with other obvious signs.

    6. Re:The WHO by Fjandr · · Score: 4, Insightful

      This is a personal decision, not one he's trying to push on others. Just as those who so choose have the option of living as long as their body holds out, so too should people have the option of not prolonging their life as long as possible.

      I have inoperable cancer, and its effects on me are such that at some point I will no longer be able to manage the symptoms to the point that life will not be worth living. I don't want to spend months or years in a narcotic fog to dull the pain enough so I can just keep breathing. Short of spontaneous remission, I will at some point choose to end my own life rather than suffer needlessly. My family is aware of this decision, and I will inform them at the point it is necessary so there are no surprises. I would do the same were my mind degrading to the point it would be clear my existence contributed nothing more than consuming oxygen and taking up space. I've talked to many others who feel exactly the same way. I'm not trying to kill other people based on some arbitrary criteria, but I sure as hell won't accept being kept alive because "all life is sacred." It's not.

  2. I agree, 100% by NitzJaaron · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The thought of living to an age where I can no longer contribute anything of value to society, while simultaneously becoming a drain to those I love - both emotionally and financially - is not appealing to me at all.

  3. Only 5 years of retirement by irrational_design · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If I'm lucky I'll be able to retire by 70. 50 years of work and then 5 years of retirement? That sucks.

    1. Re:Only 5 years of retirement by ceoyoyo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Enjoy your life, don't wait for your retirement. I don't see an especially good chance of ever being able to retire. Plus there are a lot of things I want to do while I can comfortably walk for eight hours a day, see, hear and smell well, and take a hit or two.

  4. Right... by ceoyoyo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because exercising, eating well and being mentally engaged don't help keep you healthy to an older age.

  5. Re:Quality, not quantity by Chas · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pretty much this.

    The points he addresses have nothing to do with age and everything to do with "quality of life".

    So, if we could, somehow, manage to prolong life *AND* maintain quality of life, great!

    Otherwise, yes, growing decrepit, feeble-witted, etc and wishing for an end is something people have realized for a long, long time now.

    Like the myth of Tithonus

    --


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  6. Bah by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I hate fatalism. My goal is to live forever. I'll go out kicking and screaming every bionic body part I can get.

    Watch this: https://www.ted.com/talks/aubr...

    You can all die if you want, leave me out of it.

  7. Re:Why put a number on it? by Moof123 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yep. A much better argument would be to encourage people to have clear expectations for old age, and to make options to check out much easier. I would welcome the ability to choose my exit day while I still have the faculties to do so. The US's lousy options are deplorable. Old folks have few options in most states to pull their own plug when they determine the time is right.

    In my Grandmother's case she knew it was time a few weeks before she died, but ended up in a lot of misery and humiliating circumstances for her final days due to a lack of legal options. Little has made me angrier at the religious set than listening to my grandmother beg God to let he die, and there being no legal avenue for any of her family to grant that wish thanks to those selfish bastards keeping euthanasia illegal.