Letters

Myths in medicine

EDITOR,--I read with interest the answer to the question asking whether there is any evidence to support the view that early retirement is associated with an increased life span¹; I hoped that it might confirm or deny the validity of a widespread story. I first heard the story in the summer of 1966, when I was a medical officer for the Vintage Sports Car Club's race meeting at Silverstone. At lunch the senior medical officer, a consultant radiologist, stated: "NHS consultants who retire at 65 have a life expectancy of 18 months, but for those who retire at 60 it is 12 years." This made a lasting impression on me as a young registrar, but I wondered whether it applied to a specific cohort of consultants--that is, those who had survived the war.

Over subsequent years I have . . . [Full text of this article]

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