More humans than ever live to be 100 now but I’m not sure I want to be one | Peter Goers

In the 1950s, only about 23,000 humans held on to reach 100 years old. Today the number is as staggering as it is worrying, writes Peter Goers.

If you get to be 100 years old you need to say: “If I’d known I was going to live this long I would’ve taken better care of myself.”

We are living longer and hopefully better.

In the 1970s when my grandparents hit 80 that was a rare old age. Eighty was once ancient.

Now 80 is the new 60 and we all know hale nonagenarians. They’re everywhere.

Where once you were long dead, now at 90 you are just starting a new and often challenging chapter of life.

In 1950 there were only about 23,000 centenarians in the world.

Now there are 722,000. It’s estimated that by 2050 there’ll be 3.7m centenarians. There are currently about 6900 people over 100 in Australia.

You could all too soon be among them. There are also super-centenarians over 110.

Humans may, eventually, live forever. Do we want to? It always depends on physical and mental health.

It may be pointless to be ancient, alive and suffering from dementia.

Does longevity depend on lifestyle?

World's oldest woman Jeanne Calment in Arles, southern France in 1997 on the eve of her 122nd birthday. Picture: AFP

Eunuchs reportedly lived an average of 16 years longer than the uncastrated but I say “balls!” to that idea.

The famous Jeanne Calment was allegedly the longest living person in recorded history. She gave up smoking at 117, so there’s hope for us all.

She expired at 122 years and 164 days old and she loved spicy food and ate dessert with her every meal.

She also outlived her immediate family and there lies the rub of longevity – loneliness and grief.

I’ve had the honour of knowing and loving many elders – friends and acquaintances in their 90s and even over the ton.

I knew a wonderful centenarian who loved his marijuana.

I cherish the wisdom, energy and humour of the aged.

The journalist, late of these pages, Helen Caterer at age 102 told me: “One of the secrets of life is having friends younger than oneself. Of course at my age, I have no choice.”

Some centenarians still have all their own teeth. Lucky ducks.

In 2017, the last person known to have been born in the 19th century died – but the past is always much closer than we think.

We live it. I knew a man who knew a woman whose first memory was her father returning from the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854.

Recently, I met a kid and was able to tell him (to his and my astonishment) that I personally knew his great-great-great grandfather.

Longevity has been on my mind since I acquired a very old book about very old people. Human Longevity, by James Easton, was published in 1799 and lists 1712 people from AD66-1799 reputed to have lived more than 100 years.

The vast majority are unverified. Thomas Parr married again at 103 and was said to have died at 152. John Burnet died in 1734, at 109, having married five times after his 100th birthday.

Some people never learn. Margaret Patten died at 137 and “subsisted mainly on milk”. A 172-year-old left a 116-year-old son and a 117-year-old man was 228.6cm tall. Another buried 11 wives.

Long-livers in this fanciful book are either teetotallers or big drinkers. Happily, one man lived to be 130 and ascribed his long life to tobacco. Bravo!

One man’s oldest son was 81 years older than his youngest son. It’s all spurious, but we have always been fascinated by the idea of longevity.

It becomes myth and near myth.

Quality of life is crucial at any age. Optimism is also important. I knew one 96-year-old who insisted renewing his driver’s licence for 10 years.

We must cherish our aged. Currently we can see a parade of World War II veterans passing before our eyes. Even the youngest of them is nearly 100. We must cheer them on and honour them.

Everything comes down to genes and luck. I had long-lived grandparents but also have the spectre of dementia which is a great fear. Life goes so quickly.

The Chaser comedians published this headline: “Queen Mother Dead At 101 – A Life Cut Tragically Short.”

Keep breathing.

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Originally published as More humans than ever live to be 100 now but I’m not sure I want to be one | Peter Goers