Life Expectancy Nearly Doubled in One Lifetime. Why Not 200?

The short version: One of Dr. Michael Roizen’s patients was born in 1928, when a U.S. baby boy could expect to live to about 55. He’s now 99, nearly double that, and he did it without modern AI. I was born in 1955 with a life expectancy of 66.7, and I’m already past it. My plan is to reach 100 in good health and let science take me the rest of the way.

Life expectancy is increasing, and it is increasing faster than most people realize.

I just put up my interview with Dr. Michael Roizen, formerly of Cleveland Clinic. He has written 25 books on living longer, he is 80 years old, and he is still seeing patients. During our conversation he told me about one of those patients, and I have not stopped thinking about it.

A Patient Who Nearly Doubled His Life Expectancy

Dr. Roizen has a patient who is 99 years old. When that man was born in 1928, a baby boy in the U.S. could expect to live to about 55 and a half (CDC data).

He has nearly doubled it.

And he did it mostly without computers, without AI, without any of the tools we have today. Just steady, incremental improvements in medicine and in how we live, one decade after another.

Where That Leaves Me

A boy born in the U.S. in 1955, the year I was born, had a life expectancy of 66.7 years. I am 71. I have already outlived mine by more than five years.

Now think about what I have that Dr. Roizen’s patient never had for most of his life: computers, modern science, and AI. Whatever happened to his lifespan is going to happen to mine, but on steroids.

Is 200 Really That Crazy?

If you asked someone in 1930 about the odds of living past 70, they would have told you it could be done, but not likely. Today people pass 100 all the time.

So is it really that outrageous for me to want to live to 200?

My plan is simple. Get to 100 in good health with a good mind, and do everything I can to get there. Because if I make it to 100, I believe science will take me the rest of the way.

Watch my full interview with Dr. Michael Roizen to hear the rest of what he told me.

Do you think 200 is possible? Tell me in the comments.

Keep Going

Everything I take is on my protocols page. What I do to stay strong is on my fitness page, and every blood number I publish is on my test and stats page.

Live long and prosper,

Gary

A note from Gary: I am not a doctor, and I am definitely not your doctor. I am a 71-year-old running a 129-year experiment on myself and publishing the results as they come. Talk to your physician before changing anything about your own health.