Well this is certainly a day brightner article to read. The file picture of the smirking young lady in the smock makes the article that much cheerier.

You nailed it, imperialman! But I think that's one of the docs who came up with this helpful assessment. Reminds me of the skinny nurse who snickered when she announced my 8-months-pregnant weight....long ago, to be sure, but I haven't forgotten.

How heavy is the chair? Does it have casters or legs? On carpet or on hardwood? Older sick people have a higher risk of dtying within 10 years? Brilliant !!

Thanks for adding the link to the online mortality test, but, unfortunately, the link you added goes to another article in JAMA altogether -- from 2006! Not to the online mortality test at all. The JAMA link (http://www.jama.am-assn.org) still is wrong. There is no such URL.

For years the doctors have said that good health is best achieved if you have a normal weight for your height. Now normal weight is bad. Next week there will be another article stating that you should be thin. I'm just waiting for the medical assessment that says you will live longer if you smoke.

Take it with a grain of salt because no test is perfect. This is the same as insurance statistics, your chance of having a car accident etc...Probabilities. You will see people with all of these risk factors live to 100 or more, and people with none of these risk factors die early. No one can predict the future not insurance actuaries or even doctors. No one has a crystal ball. But yes, there are risk factors that increases your odds of an accident or early death.