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How long does a Prolong recipient live?

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How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by DMcCunney   » Sat Feb 11, 2017 12:16 pm

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My impression is somewhere between 300 and 400 years, with the specific recipient and the generation of Prolong they got being factors. I don't know if David covered it in a FAQ somewhere, and pointers are welcome if he did.

It's also clear that Prolong is not "one and done". Full effectiveness requires periodic booster shots.

What brought this to mind is a bit in Shadow of Victory, where former Solarian League Gendarme Damian Hardahap is offered a job with the Alingment by Isobel Bardassano, and recalls being told one of the upgrades when he got when he joined was a Prolong booster shot that added additional century to his life. (I don't see that as something Isobel would have reason to lie about.)

It appears the Alignment has been continuing all sorts of research, and their current version of Prolong may be superior to Beowulf's.
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by Dauntless   » Sat Feb 11, 2017 2:46 pm

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I had the feeling it was more 2-3 centuries. depending upon what generation you got.

the older therapies could be taken later, up to about 25 if i recall the comments about Miranda lafolet being just too old, and genrally if you were in decent health and decent abuse your body too much then you would see the 2nd century mark.

3rd gen with it being introduced about 15 gave you good odds of reaching that third century, again if you didn't abuse your body.
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by drothgery   » Sat Feb 11, 2017 10:04 pm

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We don't really know; no prolong recipient (even the very first 1st-gen prolong recipients) has come remotely close to dying of old age yet. We have a general idea of the Honorverse medical establishment expects, but that's speculative.
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by kzt   » Sat Feb 11, 2017 10:35 pm

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Until they die.

The Honorverse is performing a massive uncontrolled experiment on all of humanity.
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by DMcCunney   » Sun Feb 12, 2017 11:56 am

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drothgery wrote:We don't really know; no prolong recipient (even the very first 1st-gen prolong recipients) has come remotely close to dying of old age yet. We have a general idea of the Honorverse medical establishment expects, but that's speculative.
No, we don't, though David doubtless does.

I was making a guess at 300 as median extended age, with shorter or longer possible depending upon individual variance.

And my unsupported impression is that Prolong essentially freezes you at the state you were in when it was administered, with aging proceeding very slowly after that. You would eventually decline and die of old age, and that would likely happen in the same time frame as before Prolong, but the period of healthy youth and middle age before that happened would be a lot longer.
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by saber964   » Sun Feb 12, 2017 1:21 pm

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IIRC Dimitri Young died at the tender age of 97. He was a pro-long recipient but he was morbidly obese and was probably treating his body like an amusement park with you name it recreational pharmaceuticals.

IIRC the generations of pro-long are evolving generational improvements of the treatment.

First generation can be given up to age 25. With apparent age stopping in early to mid thirties.

Second generation can be given at a much younger age and stopping the corresponding ageing earlier at late twenties.

Side effects on both first and second generation is the extension of pregnancy from 9 months to 11.5 months.

Third generation can be given at an even earlier point than both first and second generation (11-15 years?) And stops the apparent ageing in the mid to late teens. This generation eliminated the pregnancy side effect, pregnancy now lasts 9 months.

Side effects, due to the age of the recipients they often suffer from hormonal imbalances and mood swings.
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by DMcCunney   » Sun Feb 12, 2017 10:17 pm

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saber964 wrote:IIRC Dimitri Young died at the tender age of 97. He was a pro-long recipient but he was morbidly obese and was probably treating his body like an amusement park with you name it recreational pharmaceuticals.
Prolong gives you a longer lifespan. It does not magically keep you healthy, or protect you from years of everything to excess. :P

IIRC the generations of pro-long are evolving generational improvements of the treatment.

<...>

There was mention elsewhere in the Honorverse books about Prolong being administered at a really young age, but it was done by Manpower for pleasure slaves whose client's tastes ran to sex with kids. Everywhere else, the impression is that the first treatments aren't given till after puberty.

About 25 seems to be the general upper age limit for getting Prolong. After that, it simply doesn't work.

My impression was that Prolong could be administered early in any generation, but again, early teen seemed to be the default age range. Total lifespan would be about the same regardless, and what varied was apparent age.

Also, it wasn't "one and done", and booster shots were required. My additional impression was that lifespan with just the original starter treatment was about 200 years, and longer was possible if you got the boosters. How much longer is the question.
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by Relax   » Mon Feb 13, 2017 12:57 am

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I remember quotes regarding prolong:

Not sure which book(s): Essentially, Humans were now able to live as long as Treecats.

Not sure which book(s), but says each treecat tail ring is ??? years and they can have "?" of them which essentially means they live ~~~ 250T years, or ~40 Sphinxian years.

I always assumed DW made Prolong to match Treecat life expectancy. Therefore when Honor died finally of old age, Nimitz would also. Or vice versa.

So I always assumed about 250->300 years or so?
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by George J. Smith   » Mon Feb 13, 2017 4:43 am

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ISTR textev that Honor wondered how the 'cats would react to the fact that 2 legs would live longer than 'cats.
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A man should live forever, or die in the attempt
Spider Robinson Callahan's Crosstime Saloon (1977) A voice is heard in Ramah
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Re: How long does a Prolong recipient live?
Post by Relax   » Mon Feb 13, 2017 11:45 am

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George J. Smith wrote:ISTR textev that Honor wondered how the 'cats would react to the fact that 2 legs would live longer than 'cats.

ISTR... mind blank... Is what book? None I remember. Short story?
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