From David Pengilley, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, UK
I enjoy and endorse the many recent articles on, for want of a better phrase, lifestyle improvements. Better diet, more exercise, more creativity, more socialising, positive thinking and so on. However, the proposals are statistical in nature and probably written by researchers under 60. As one ages past 70, there is an increasing awareness that life is binary, not statistical (27 December 2025, p 36).
My wife exceeded me in all of the above measures: diet, exercise, creativity and social life. Yet at the end of 2024, aged 77, she died from pancreatic cancer. This isn’t a plea for sympathy, nor a suggestion to reduce or change the lifestyle recommendations. It is merely a request that everyone be aware that no amount of lifestyle improvements will ultimately defeat the binary nature of life.
