Question on wizards aging.

[sad1199]

No: HPFGUIDX 114188

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Troels Forchhammer 
<t.forch at e...> wrote:
> At 09:18 29-09-04 +0000, finwitch wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> <snip>
> 
> >I can think of several other reasons that wizards have longer 
life-
> >span - it's not JUST because they're magical:
> >
> >1. No wizard smokes (at least I have never seen one do so, and I
> >doubt JKR makes one), and thus they avoid several lethal (and 
painful)
> >lung-diseases.
> 
> PS-5 'Diagon Alley' -- upon entering the Leaky Cauldron:
> 
>    "  For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old
>     women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of
>     sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe."
> 
> OotP-5 'The Order of the Phoenix' when Harry first enters the 
kitchen
> in the headquarters just after the meeting:
> 
>    "  It was scarcely less gloomy than the hall above, a cavernous
>     room with rough stone walls. Most of the light was coming from
>     a large fire at the far end of the room. A haze of pipe smoke
>     hung in the air like battle fumes, through which loomed the
>     menacing shapes of heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the
>     dark ceiling."
> At least Mundungus must have been smoking, but possibly other 
members of the
> Order did as well.
> 
> >2. No fast food. (and therefore, not so many heart-failures & 
such?)
> >
> >3. No idealizing of being skinny, to go with wearing robes (so no
> >anorectics either)
> >
> >4. No traffic accidents leading to severe consequences (apparently
> >they can fix splitting for the apparating excelently, at least 
it's
> >not lethal).
> 
> 1 through 4 were also true five hundred years ago, and they lived 
how
> much longer than today?
> 
> >5. Some good Healing methods, even though they do have magical
> >diseases to balance that. (like phoenix tears vs. basilisk bites, 
or
> >Mansdrake Draught, Pepper-up potion...)
> 
> That would account for an longer average life-span, but not for a
> higher maximum unless there is some way to 'heal' old age, in which
> case we should expect wizards to live indefinitely (there is, but 
it
> requires a Philosophers' Stone to make the Elixir of Life, and that
> is very rare and obviously not the reason for their generally 
longer
> life).
> 
> >6. What else is that Stopper of Death- potion doing than keeping 
them
> >alive?
> 
> There is at least two or three other guesses that seem to me more
> likely as to what Snape meant.
> 
> 
> >7. Magical children can protect themselves effectively (like 
Neville
> >bouncing after such fall!), so much less children dying because of
> >nasty adults or unfortunate accidents...
> 
> Again this would only explain a longer average life, not a higher
> maximum age.
> 
> Troels Forchhammer

sad1199 here: 

That is what I meant. Wizards don't just live longer. Their helath 
is much better than average. My grandmother is 94 and she has a 
walker and can only go for about 1/2 hour at a time without resting 
just around her house and she is considered to be in good health for 
her age. My original thought was that the more powerful wizards of 
magic live longer because of their magical skills. Maybe the more 
skills you have the more magical health energy you have as a wizard 
or witch. 

...happy, caring, loving...   sad1199