Human Longevity, Individual Life Duration, And the Growth of the Oldest-old Population

by Robine, Jean-Marie; Crimmins, Eileen M.; Horiuchi, Shiro; Zeng, Yi

• ISBN13: 9781402048463
• ISBN10: 1402048467
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-12-15
• Publisher: Springer Nature

Summary

Old-age survival has considerably improved in the second half of the twentieth century. The life expectancy in wealthy countries has increased, on average, from 65 years in 1950 to 76 years in 2005. The rise was more spectacular in some countries: the life expectancy for Japanese women rose from 62 years to 86 years during the same period. Driven by this longevity extension, the population aged 80 and over in those countries has grown fivefold from 8.5 millions in 1950 to 44.5 millions in 2005. Why has such a substantial extension of human lifespan occurred? How long can we live? In this book, these fundamental questions are explored by experts from such diverse fields as biology, medicine, epidemiology, demography, sociology, and mathematics: they report on recent cutting-edge studies about essential issues of human longevity such as evolution of lifespan of species, genetics of human longevity, reasons for the recent improvement in survival of the elderly, medical and behavioral causes of deaths among very old people, and social factors of long survival in old age.

Table of Contents

In Memoriam: Väinö Kannisto	ix
Preface	xiii
Acknowledgements	xv
Introduction	1
Jean-Marie Robine, Eileen Crimmins, Shiro Horiuchi, and Zeng Yi
Section 1. Theoretical and Comparative Biological Concepts
1. Research Issues on Human Longevity	7
Jean-Marie Robine
2. Patterns in Mammalian Ageing: Demography and Evolution	43
Steven N. Austad
3. Life Span Extension in Humans is Self-Reinforcing: A General Theory of Longevity	57
James R. Carey and Debra S. Judge
Section 2. Empirical and Analytical Studies of Ageing and Oldest-Old Populations
4. Oldest-Old Mortality in China	87
Zeng Yi and James W. Vaupel
5. Central and Dispersion Indicators of Individual Life Duration: New Methods	111
Väinö Kannisto
6. Recent Trends in Life Expectancy and Rectangularisation of the Survival Curve at Advanced Ages in the Netherlands	131
Wilma J. Nusselder
7. The Validation of Exceptional Male Longevity in Sardinia	147
Michel Poulain, Giovanni M. Pes, Ciriaco Carru, Luiggi Ferrucci, Giovanella Baggio, Claudio Franceschi, and Luca Deiana
8. Mortality at Extreme Ages and Data Quality: The Canadian Experience	167
Robert Bourbeau and Bertrand Desjardins
Section 3. Causes of Death and Biological Frailty
9. Causes of Death among the Oldest-Old: Validity and Comparability	191
France Meslé
10. Causes of Death among the Oldest-Old: Age-Related Changes in the Causes-of-Death Distribution	215
Shiro Horiuchi
11. Genetic Factors Associated with Individual Life Duration: Heritability	237
Kaare Christensen and Anne Maria Herskind
12. Mortality among the Least Frail: Lessons from Research on the APOE Gene	251
Douglas C. Ewbank
Section 4. Sex, Gender, and Social Determinants and Consequences of Mortality
13. Social Determinants of Mortality in the Oldest-Old: Social Class and Individual Way-of-Life	271
Marja Jylhä and Tiina Luukkaala
14. Social Differences in Older Adult Mortality in the United States: Questions, Data, Methods, and Results	297
John R. Wilmoth and Mike Dennis
15. Mortality Differences by Sex among the Oldest-Old	333
Jacques Vallin
Section 5. Causes of the Trend in Mortality and Morbidity
16. Explanation of the Decline in Mortality among the Oldest-Old: The Impact of Circulatory Diseases	357
Bernard Jeune
17. Explanation of the Decline in Mortality among the Oldest-Old: A Demographic Point of View	395
Graziella Caselli, James W. Vaupel, and Anatoli I. Yashin
18. Marital Status and Family Support for the Oldest-Old in Great Britain	415
Emily Grundy and Michael Murphy
Index	437