The Gene genie VS lifestyle choices.

Well, well, well. At long last we have a scientist prepared to stand her ground. Dr Jill P Crandall, a professor of clinical medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (no less) has concluded that we are part of a lifetime lottery when we are created. Yes folks it all emanates from our genes. How very inconvenient for those who languish lavishly in Shoreditch, admirably propped up by government money/our taxes!

“The genetic component that allows people to survive into extreme old age is probably a very powerful one,” she said, "even counteracting the effects of unhealthy lifestyle choices."

Wow! Now that rather makes a mockery of HMG's 5-a-day, does it not! If we don't happen to have the right gene in our genetic make-up it doesn't really matter if we slobber down 10 banana's a day or give them to the baboon in the zoo! OK, I accept that maybe we might shorten our life a little bit, but in an ever restrictive country such as we are now becoming-so what?

Sod it, only here once lad!

When you think of some of our elderly tucked away in a 'care home' (that doesn't really care) do you actually want to end up like that? Can't really be much fun not knowing what is going on, apart from the fact that the private ambulance arrived this morning but now you can't for the life of you remember who's final journey it was!

 Life's a bitch and then some, whether you smoke or not!

“We found that our centenarians by and large did not adhere to any specific healthful diet more than the other population did,” Crandall said.

Wow, so even normal people go to heaven! So these centenarians may have smoked, may have drunk alcohol, may have womanized, may have worked, may have languished on the dole, may have spent years in prison or sailing the seas but their general dietary situation was no different to anyone elses! Goodbye '5-a-day', just more hogwash from the medical 'we want you to live longer so that we can make more money out of you' brigade.

Which one is me then?

Crandall's partner, S Jay Olshansky said the findings underscore the importance of genetics to life span. “The only way anyone has any chance at all of living an exceptionally long life is if they won the genetic lottery at birth,” he said.So there you go, depending on how you look at it you may have been a lottery winner at birth, conception or where-ever it all starts! Read it all here.