Why the obsession with trying to extend the span of human life and by implication, old age?  Is it the notion of superiority by 'mastering' nature?  So the rich & powerful can stay rich & powerful for longer?  Perhaps get even more rich and more powerful?  Please, don't imagine that any so-called benefits of current medical technology would be passed on to we mere mortals.  Already we (the mere mortals) are being denied operations because we smoke (I do), we're too fat (I'm not), we drink too much alcohol (I do), we don't take enough excercise (I don't excercise at all!), our life-style is wrong etc.

Here we are, too many old people and not enough young tax payers to pay the pension or health bills.  "With old age comes the increased incidence of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis, cataract, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and Alzheimer's disease.   The incidence of all of these diseases increases rapidly with aging (and increases exponentially with age, in the case of cancer)"©Wikipedia.  Has anyone stopped to think of the extra burden that will be placed on the already, over-stretched, NHS?  Here's a good idea - let's enable people to live longer and incur all those extra costs!  Doh!

This country (and the world in general) already has issues over food security and how to feed the population.  Also energy security and how to keep everybody warm in winter.  Maybe, just maybe, we should let the old ones die!  Not in pain or with fear, but with dignity.  It can be done.  Read on!

I killed my mother!  No, not with volence or anything like that.  I just obeyed her wishes.

From the mid/late 1990's mum started developing MND (motor neurone disease) with, if I remember correctly, a prognosis of some 3/5 years life expectancy.  It started with her left arm (slowly) becoming totally useless; but that was OK as mum was of the 'old school' and she was right handed anyway.  Mum beat that prognosis, but the disease then started to spread to her right arm.  She wasn't having any of that!  She wasn't going to be a burden to anyone (least of all my father).

Once mum realised that the MND was spreading, she made a decision.  She said 'good-bye' to all her close friends & relatives and asked my sister & I (mum knew that dad couldn't do it) to promise her that we would not 'extend' her life; she'd also expressed this wish to her GP and two consultants at the hospital where she'd been receiving 'treatment' for the last few years.  Mum then proceeded to 'shut down'!

Repeatedly the hospital staff wanted to attach 'drips' to mum and, repeatedly, I had to stop them (as was mum's wish).

Although mother did die with some dignity, she could have died with a lot more dignity if the hospital staff were more willing/able to respect my mother's wishes - the shit's; it wasn't them who were suffering!

We've got to learn to stop being selfish and 'let them go' - after all, we're all going to die some day.

I understand the thirst for knowledge & understanding and it's right to explore & discover new avenues of research, but implementing them!  I know how, in theory, to fly a helicopter - but I wouldn't do it because it would be dangerous (and not only to me).  Just because we know how to do something doesn't mean that we should!

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