Are We Living Longer? Really? - 1/23/18

I ask the question, are we living longer than past generations?

Of course we are, there are statistics that prove it, right? Being a data nerd, I decided to compile statistics from my father's lineage to determine if my family on my father's side is indeed living longer from the previous generation(s). I actually have data from my father's side of the family that goes back 9 generations to the year 1600 when my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather was born in Caen, France.

After I compiled the statics, the data was not surprising considering my family does not live long on my father's side:

8 Generations (1600-1944) Before modern medicine and vaccines
35 - Average age lived (includes deaths at birth)
56 - Average age lived (DOES NOT include deaths at birth)

Grandfather's Generation (1906-1979) Modern medicine and vaccines
69 - Average age lived (includes deaths at birth)
69 - Average age lived (DOES NOT include deaths at birth)

Of course one could look at the data above and conclude that my grandfather's generation has put 13 years on the average life span (not including deaths at birth) from the previous 8 generations. However breaking down the averages we see that two generations had close to or the same average life spans as my grandfather's generation:

9th Gen (1600-1687)
66 - Average age lived (DOES NOT include deaths at birth)

3rd Gen (1819-1910)
69 - Average age lived (DOES NOT include deaths at birth)


Here is the averages for all generations in my family:

9 Generations (1600-1979)
39 - Average age lived (includes deaths at birth)
58 - Average age lived (DOES NOT include deaths at birth)


Anyhoo, my conclusion with regard to my family statistics alone, that perhaps modern man is not living that much longer than past generations, seeing as we have so much more modern conveniences, "healthcare" etc. For example:

The average age ALL my great grandfathers lived for 8 generations is 70 years old
The average age ALL my great grandmothers lived for 8 generations is 66 years old

My grandfather lived to 68
My grandmother lived to73

Not much longevity difference for our "modern" generation.

Now on to my current generation:

My father lived to age 56 (died of cancer treatment)
My mother is still alive at age 76 (but has been disabled from a stroke since the age of 56)
My sister died at age 53 (from an overdose of chemotherapy)

Not looking too good for longevity of life in my family's current generation. What is wrong? Does my family have bad genes? I thought we were living longer with modern medicine?

Or perhaps, we may be living a bit longer, with "modern medicine" and modern conveniences, but our "quality" of life is worse, including the epidemic of cancer and deaths from supposedly cancer (or maybe cancer treatments are causing the deaths?). How could my 7th generation grandmother live to the ripe age of 95 back in the 1700's when there was no modern conveniences or medicines and she had 15 children! Perhaps past generations were hardier and more tolerant to pain than our current "modern" generation. The current generation's obsession with running to the doctor for every little pain is perhaps killing us sooner (with overdosing on pain killers and malpractice from incompetent doctors).

Oh well. Just my boring opinion, right or wrong, good or bad.