Death Calculator at Deathclock.com: The Impending Doom

It always crosses our minds one way or another. Death. How are we going to die? This is my favorite subject when I'm depressed. There is not another topic so endless in worry and anxiety. Everyone is affected by it one way or another. You may be ill or know of someone who is, or have experienced death through someone close or a life threatening experience.

At www.deathclock.com you can calculate your death by entering you birth date, height, weight, and mode; the options for mode are normal, pessimistic, sadistic, or optimistic. Many websites offer silly quizzes on death and life expectancy but others take it as a serious science, finding ways to live longer and healthier to escape the inevitable.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, a neurosurgeon and chief medical correspondent for CNN, recently published a book called Chasing Life. "Its not about anti-aging but functional aging." Chasing Life describes ways to enhance the time you have while exposing myths about nutritional supplements and eating habits. It also explores the advances in technology which may affect the leading causes of death and how to fight them.

The Department of Health and Human Services Center for Disease Control and Prevention lists the top 10 leading causes of death for all ages in 2004:

1. Heart Disease 652,486
2. Malignant Neoplasms 553,888 (Cancer)
3. Cerebrovascular 150,074 (Affects the Brain)
4. Chronic Low Respiratory Disease 121,987 (Lungs)
5. Unintentional Injury 112,012
6. Diabetes Millitus 73,138
7. Alzheimer's Disease 65,965
8. Influenza & Pneumonia 59,664
9. Nephritis 42,480 (Inflammation of Kidney)
10. Septicemia 33,373 (Blood Poisoning)

The leading cause of unintentional injury is motor vehicle accidents. The most common age to die is 65 and over.

The number 27 is popularly associated with death as it refers to a common age to die for famous musicians. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and Kurt Cobain all died at the very young age of 27.

The three main monotheistic religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, all believe in a heaven or hell which is the reward or punishment after this life. Many of us are taught that what we do in this life will affect what happens to us when we die. What a stressful and constant impending doom! Many of us are also taught to fear this unknown doom and fear for the consequences of our behavior. Death is always on our minds.

With all this talk and stress about death you would think it would cause some anxiety. Stress has not been proven to be a cause of death but it can affect your health and immune system greatly making it harder to stay healthy and easier to develop sickness.

When I am stressed out I don't always think about death but I can get caught up in a snowball of pessimism. This snowball of anxiety can start with a stressful job or living situation and transform itself into "the rest of my life" which in turn leads to my death.

Death is inevitable but there are ways to stay healthy and hopefully make your last years enjoyable or longer. We are all unsure of death's impending doom. Happiness and humor is one way to fix our depressing outlook on death, it will alleviate our stress about it while making our life much easier. After all, we truly have no control over it.