If You Answer These 13 Questions, Scientists Can Predict When You'll Die
Would you like to know when you go?
nikkimeel | Shutterstock Are you still going to be around in five years? It's a scary question to ask, but would you still want to know if the answer could change the way you live your life?
If you're planning on being alive, you might want to work on your savings; if you won't, then it's time to start living life to the fullest.
If you answer these 13 questions, researchers can predict when you'll die.
A charity recruited 500,000 people from across the country aged between 40-69 years from 2006-2010 who were willing to undergo long-term monitoring of their health. The information so far gleaned, which covers over 650 measurements per person, has been used by two Swedish scientists to produce an online ‘risk calculator’.
So, are you between in ages 40 and 70 and live in the UK? You can now get that answer. UK Longevity Explorer (Ubble) posted a calculator that asks you 11–13 questions about your lifestyle and health in order to predict whether or not you'll be alive in five years.
What are some of the questions like? Some are what you might expect — about their age, and smoking habits — but others are surprising, such as “How many cars/vans are owned, or available for use, by you or members of your household?”
Why do they ask such weird questions? It's a mix and the content of the questions is the result of analyzing volumes of data to find the best predictors of short-term mortality. For example, the car/van question works because research revealed it is closely correlated to wealth, which is an important factor in mortality.
The results give you your Ubble age (the age that has the most similar risk of dying) and your risk of dying.
The calculator uses data from UK Biobank, a health resource that tries to help with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of various diseases.
The survey takes your age, gender, and whether you have had any kids into consideration. It also looks into whether you smoke, how you walk, and even if you have experienced the death of a close relative or partner.
The probabilities generated by the calculator are just that – UbbLE says that they are “in no way intended to be an accurate prediction of the relevant risk related to a specific person”. With that caveat in mind, the results nevertheless serve as a reminder that, even over just half a decade, none of us should assume we are immortal.
This is probably because they know it's possible to die of a broken heart.
So, are you ready for the cold hard truth? Try it out.
Nicole Weaver is a senior writer for Showbiz Cheat Sheet whose work has been featured in New York Magazine, Teen Vogue, and more.