Considering the massive role proper hygiene has had in minimizing the spread of disease and improving overall health, I wonder if people who refuse to wash their hands are actually worse than vaccine deniers.
I see what you guys are saying but lets put this differently.
A HEALTHY guy back then will live longer than a HEALTHY guy today.
You see life expectancy increased because now people don't die of small diseases as they used due to advancement in medicine and vaccinations and better health care overall. But even then I see very less people now days living healthy past 70 year of age.
But I don't have data to back my argument, this is from personal observation. So yeah.
There are aspects in which modern health is worse off now than it had been in the past. The main ones are diet and exercise, which are on average much worse now. But when you compare that to the numerous advancements made in modern medicine, life expectancy is still way up.
But no, a healthy person, who regularly exercises and watches their diet, with a basic concept of hygiene, is likely to live well past his 70s, and significantly longer than a similar person 20, 40, 60, and especially 100 years ago. Plenty of people live healthy past 70, and it's not even a rarity. Your personal anecdotes about your family are statistically irrelevant.