Baby Boomers 1946 to 1964 Longevity and Unhealthy Life Style -- How do we survive?
We Baby Boomers are still the second largest generation alive -- the Millennials are the largest. Baby Boomers' average life expectancy is 79 years old. We range in age from 51 to 79 years old. As we age, we do face medical problems -- heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia.
However, considering we were raised and aged in a society which promoted unhealthy lifestyles, we are an amazing generation.
Okay, maybe a bit of exaggeration -- just one way only!!!!
However, when you consider our exposure to what are NOW considered deadly, fatal, life-ending elements, we are living longer, yes experiencing some chronic health issues, but still alive and being active.
OUR UNHEALTHY LIFE EXPERIENCES
EATING LEAD PAINT
When we were kids, lead paint was still widely used. For example, we would sleep in these large crib beds.
The cribs were often made of metal and covered with lead paint. The lead paint would peel, and we baby boomers just loved to eat the paint. Actually, I did eat it, and it was quite delicious and helped me develop healthy teeth.
Of course, lead paint was everywhere, so it was easy to find a lead snack any time we wanted.
Consuming lead causes severe, often irreversible
damage across nearly every organ system, particularly harming the brain,
nervous system, kidneys, and blood, with children and pregnant women at
highest risk; it leads to developmental issues (lower IQ, behavioral problems),
anemia, high blood pressure, reproductive harm, and can cause coma or death at
high levels, with no safe exposure threshold known.
BREATHING IN LOTS OF SMOKE
When I was a child, in the late 40s and 50s and even 60s, smoking was not only accepted, but was thought to be classy, even elegant.
"In 1950s America cigarette smoking was the epitome of cool and glamour. Hollywood icons such as James Dean and Humphrey Bogart were never without one. Screen beauties such as Audrey Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich made smoking look sensual and sophisticated. Even a future president - Ronald Reagan - was handed free packs of Chesterfield during his B-movie days. By the late 1950s around half of the population of industrialised nations smoked - in the UK up to 80% of adults were hooked. The product was cheap, legal and socially acceptable."
It was not until the 1970s that there was a concern about the effects of second hand smoke.
"Twenty years ago when Dr. C. Everett Koop released the Surgeon General’s report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Smoking, it was the first Surgeon General’s report to conclude that involuntary exposure of nonsmokers to tobacco smoke causes disease. The topic of involuntary exposure of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke was first considered in Surgeon General Jesse Steinfeld’s 1972 report, and by 1986, the causal linkage between inhaling secondhand smoke and the risk for lung cancer was clear. By then, there was also abundant evidence of adverse effects of smoking by parents on their children."
Whether we smoked or not, our baby boomer lungs were damaged by cigarette smoking.
There was no place to go to escape the SMOKE. 😈😈😈😈😈😈
"Second-hand smoke has the same chemicals in it as the tobacco smoke breathed in by a smoker. Hundreds of the chemicals in second-hand smoke are toxic. More than 70 of them have been shown to cause cancer in human studies or lab tests."
Adults exposed to secondhand smoke may experience: Cardiovascular disease like high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, heart attack or stroke. Lung problems like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Increased risk of lung cancer and breast cancer.
STRONTIUM 90 IN OUR MILK
Now and in the 1950s and who knows how many centuries before, Bovine Milk has been considered a great drink for kids.
"It is a convenient, calorie-dense option for toddlers and a source of nutrients that the body can use for brain development, tissue repair, and strong bones and teeth."
https://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront/pediatrics-articles/do-kids-need-milk
So for most baby boomer kid, milk became the drink for most meals, for snacks, after playing, during school, after school, and even before bed.
However, in the fifties, milk was a radioactive poison.
- Nuclear fallout: Above-ground nuclear tests in the 1950s and 1960s released radioactive particles, including strontium-90, into the atmosphere.
- Wind patterns: Prevailing wind patterns carried this radioactive dust over vast areas, contaminating soil and vegetation in places far from the test sites.
- Contamination of the food chain: Cows ate the contaminated grass, and the strontium-90 was absorbed by their bodies and became concentrated in their milk.
- Human ingestion: When people, particularly children, drank this milk, they also ingested the strontium-90, which mimics calcium and deposits in bones."
- Accumulation in Bones and Teeth: Because Sr-90 has a chemical structure similar to calcium, the body, especially in growing children, readily incorporates it into calcified tissues. The concern was amplified for children, as they have a diet high in milk and higher rates of bone mineralization than adults.
- Cancer Risk: Once deposited in the bone, the embedded Sr-90 and its decay product, yttrium-90 (Y-90), emit beta radiation, which irradiates bone cells, bone marrow, and surrounding soft tissues. This internal radiation exposure was linked to an increased risk of developing bone cancer, leukemia, and other related cancers.
- Long-term Exposure: Sr-90 has a long half-life of approximately 29 years, allowing it to persist in the environment and the body for substantial periods, leading to prolonged internal exposure.
- Public Health Crisis: Public concern about the increasing levels of Sr-90 in the food chain, particularly milk, led to "citizen science" efforts like the Baby Tooth Survey. This study found that children born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1963 had Sr-90 levels in their baby teeth up to 50 times higher than those born before large-scale testing began in 1950.
- Political Impact: The findings of the Baby Tooth Survey were shared with U.S. President John F. Kennedy and were a key factor in building public and political pressure that led to the signing of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963, which ended most above-ground nuclear weapons testing. "
The good news for the current generation is that the Strontium 90, we baby boomers dealt with, is not much of a problem today.
"Yes, trace amounts of strontium-90 (Sr-90) are present in milk in 2025, but the levels are extremely low and considered safe for consumption. The concentration of Sr-90 in milk has been in steady decline since the halt of most atmospheric nuclear weapons testing in the 1960s."
Despite all that radiation, we baby boomers continue to survive to our 70s. However, our exposure to radiation did not end with Strontium 90.
XRAY RADIATION MACHINES IN SHOE STORES
In the 1950s, the trip to the shoe store for kids was lots of fun.
Mainly, because we could use an X-Ray Machine (called shoe-fitting fluoroscopes) to see the bones of our feet.
It was such fun to have your feet X-RAYED again and again and again. We all had to wait in line for our second and third chance to get a zap of X-RAYS.
However the fun had to come to an end.
- Function: Customers would place their feet in the machine, and the sales associate and parent could look through viewing ports to see an X-ray image of the foot inside the shoe.
- Purpose: The idea was to ensure a more "scientific" and accurate shoe fit by allowing people to see if there was enough room for toes.
- Sales tactic: Despite their stated purpose, the machines were also a significant marketing tool, creating a "futuristic" and exciting experience to encourage shoe purchases.
- Radiation exposure: The machines exposed the feet and lower legs to significant amounts of radiation, especially since they were used repeatedly by customers and operated by employees on a daily basis.
- Lack of shielding: Unlike modern medical X-rays, these machines lacked proper lead shielding for both the customer and the sales staff, who were exposed to scattered radiation.
- Ineffective for fitting: By the late 1940s, scientific studies showed the machines were not reliable for fitting shoes, leading to growing health concerns.
- Growing concerns: Public suspicion and fear of radiation, along with scientific findings, grew throughout the 1950s
WHAT ELSE DID WE SURVIVE!
Being honest, i know that all generations live through many stressors; however, the baby boomers, being around at least 61 years, have faced many factors endangering our existence.
DAILY FEAR OF DEATH FROM THE COLD WAR: The Cold War
caused significant mental stress through a pervasive fear of nuclear
annihilation, widespread societal paranoia and suspicion, and a
profound uncertainty about the future. These stressors shaped the daily
lives and psychological development of millions on both sides of the Iron
Curtain.
FOOD - We ate a steady diet of newly developed fast foods, junk food, MSG, fatty foods, upsizes, and breaded fried foods. ALL OF THIS WITH THE BLESSINGS OF MOST AUTHORITIES. Companies like McDonalds, KFC, Accent, Swanson TV dinners offered us quick filling unheathly food alternatives. These foods were promoted, just like cigarettes, as a source of nutrition in a society in which husbands and wives entered the work force and had no time to cook.
DISEASE -- We fought to survive through Polio, Asian Flu, Hong Kong Flu, London Flu, Russian Flu, SARS, Swine Flu, Ebola crisis, Hepatitis variant, most recently the collective hysterical response to Covid-19. The sad thing about the lockdowns and restrictions launched by medical miscalculation is that there were far more baby boomers deaths from heart and stroke, cancer, lung, kidney and other non-Covid diseases because the medical world considered the deaths from these diseases to not be important, to be collateral damage.
ECONOMY -- When we baby boomers were trying to get jobs, buy housing, start families, we faced the recessions and stagflation of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. My first house mortgage was 9.25% During the 70s, mortgage rates flew up into the double digits, reaching 19% in most Western Countries. We dealt with several collapses of the stock market when we were trying to build the financial survival of our retirements.
OTHER HAZARDS WE USED BASED ON THE PRACTICES BACK THEN.
WOODEN SPOONS: "The main problems with wooden spoons
are their porous nature, which can absorb moisture, bacteria, odors, and
stains, making them hard to clean thoroughly and potentially harboring germs,
as well as the risk of splintering, cracking, and warping if not properly
maintained. They are also not dishwasher safe and require immediate, thorough
drying and occasional oiling to prevent damage and bacterial growth, unlike
many modern alternatives."
NO SEAT BELTS IN CARS, BUSES, PLANES, ETC.: "The
main problem with no seat belts is a drastic increase in severe injury and
death during crashes, as unbelted occupants become dangerous projectiles,
hitting the interior, other passengers, or being ejected, leading to fatal
outcomes, even with airbags which aren't designed for unbuckled impacts,
highlighting that seat belts are the most effective life-saving device in a
vehicle. "
GARDEN HOSE DRINKING: "Drinking water from a
standard garden hose poses health risks primarily due to toxic chemicals that
can leach from the hose materials and the potential for bacterial growth in
stagnant water. Most standard garden hoses are not designed for human
consumption and lack the safety regulations of indoor plumbing."
RIDING IN A PICK UP TRUCK BED: Riding in a pickup
truck bed, whether for passengers or cargo, poses significant problems
primarily due to a lack of safety restraints and structural protection,
which drastically increases the risk of injury or death in the event of an
accident or sudden maneuver.
I could go on about the stresses we face; however, Millenials and Gen Z have no concept of what baby boomers went through to survive to 2025.
Yet, we still survive and probably will be around to see another new generation, just as we did, falter and fail dismally as they face the immense problems humanity has faced since the beginning of Human existence.
THE CURRENT GENERATIONS ARE BEING CODDLED THE WAY WE BABY BOOMERS NEVER WERE. YET WE HAVE SURVIVED. I CANNOT HELP BUT THINK THAT THERE IS SOME KIND OF LESSON IN OUR SURVIVAL. AM I JUST A DELUSIONAL 78 YEAR OLD BABY BOOMER. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
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