Is it pointless?

My mother has had a subscription to Prevention magazine for probably 20 years; it still arrives in the mail each month. Not only did she read the magazine, but read many books and articles published in other places regarding how to have the best health. Aside from reading a lot about health, she was quite conscientious about practicing what she was reading, at least as far as diet. She was quite disciplined about maintaining a healthy lifestyle, with perhaps the exception of exercise which she did not do on a routine basis.

She is now in her late 80s, living in a nursing home. She is confined to bed unless someone gets her out of it into a wheel chair, and her life is confined to one room most of the time. She is awake and can interact with people. She knows what is going on around her, and still knows everyone she might be expected to know. On the other hand, her thoughts are often scrambled, lacking recognition about what is real and what isn't. Sometimes conversing with her is like talking to a schizophrenic person because she believes and tells things which are clearly impossible, yet has certainty that they are true.

So was all of her effort to live a healthy lifestyle a waste of time? Was it all a delusion to think by conscientious effort she could live life more abundantly? For anyone, is there a point to practicing health promotion principles?

When I was young and inexperienced my answer would have been a rousing YES! When it comes to health, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul," to quote Invictus. Now, my answer is a guarded yes. Because of the intricacies of body parts and functions, down to the cellular and molecular level, and the great range of forces on the outside which influence our health, it is not possible to think about health as a simple transaction: "If you do these five things, you will live in good health for a long and prosperous life." The truth is health promotion is one part discipline and one part crap shoot.

We try to discover things which statistically increase the odds of living well. What is statistically probable for a population or group does not always play out for every individual. This explains why there are a few nonsmokers who get lung cancer while a few smokers don't. Statistically, the odds are much better that if you don't smoke, your health will be much better. About some things we are much more sure, and the evidence is very convincing. Other things will have evidence only suggestive, but not certain.

I choose to follow those things which are most promising. I may win or lose, but will take the odds every time.

By the way, my mother has passed the average life expectancy for women her age by about eight years - a partial victory.