Yes but the average life expectancy in the US also includes people that
die of unnatural causes. I suspect car accidents, murder, industrial
accidents, etc. are not much of a concern for the Hunza.

-Dom
On Mar 1, 2004, at 5:22 PM, Jay Banks wrote:

> * That number [the seventy-one years, for the U.S.] may sound pretty
> good,
> but remember that it includes millions of old people who are alive but
> not
> really living. The length of their lives may have been extended by
> surgery
> or medication, but the quality of their lives has been devastated in
> the
> process. They are the ones who stare blankly into space with impaired
> mental
> capacity, or who are dependent on life-support mechanisms, or who are
> confined to bed requiring round-the-clock care. There are no such cases
> buried in the statistics from Hunza. Most of those people are healthy,
> vigorous, and vital right up to within a few days of the end. The
> quality of
> life is more important than the quantity. The Hunzakuts have both.