Ever wondered how more years you've got on the clock? Well, unlike your ancestors, there are many diseases and health problems with which you simply won't have to contend.
In the past 100 years, vaccines against nasty diseases, such as smallpox, which killed 300m people in the 20th century, have been eradicated.
Likewise, health problems caused by poor living conditions, such as inadequate sanitation, have become less common. Cholera hasn't been endemic in the UK for over a century, although is sadly still plagues poorer communities such as Haiti.
Modern medicine and research has also challenged the outcomes of health problems such as diabetes, pneumonia and the flu, which were seen as a mortal threat.
Experts have also succeeded in isolating key dietary elements needed to tackle ailments.
Modern children are encouraged to have a diet rich in Vitamin D and calcium as a means of preventing rickets, a condition that causes weakening and softening of the bones.
If you're wondering what else sent your ancestors to an early grave, you can find out here..
Generations Of Disease
Smallpox(01 of07)
Open Image ModalAn estimated 300 million people died from smallpox in the 20th century alone. (credit:Alamy)
Cholera(02 of07)
Open Image ModalThere had been six major cholera pandemics by the start of the 20th century. It killed tens of millions of people in the 19th century alone. (credit:Alamy)
Diphtheria(03 of07)
Open Image ModalIn 1940 there were more than 60,000 cases and 3,283 deaths from diphtheria in the UK.By 2008, vaccination of children had almost eliminated diphtheria (there were just six cases in the UK that year – all imported). (credit:Alamy)
Tuberculosis(04 of07)
Open Image ModalThese day, the BCG vaccine protects most of Brits from death by tuberculosis.Since the early 19th century, mortality rates have falled from 36,500 (1913) to 334 in 2008 in England and Wales. (credit:Alamy)
Measles(05 of07)
Open Image ModalMeasles is no longer threatens our lives in the way it did our ancestors. In developed countries, most children are now immunised against measles as part of a three-part MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella). However, in roughly the last 150 years, measles has been estimated to have killed about 200 million people worldwide. (credit:Alamy)
Influenza(06 of07)
Open Image ModalWhile these days, it's unlikely that you'll die of flu, just one hundred years ago, people feared the virus. The Spanish flu pandemic killed between 2 and 20% of those infected, as opposed to the more usual flu epidemic mortality rate of 0.1%. (credit:Alamy)
Typhoid(07 of07)
Open Image ModalThis bacterial disease was responsible for wide-spread epidemics, until a vaccine was found in the early 20th century. (credit:Alamy)