Information AboutLongevity |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT LONGEVITY | |
| aging | |
| gerontology | |
| population | |
| demography | |
| socioeconomics | |
| supercentenarians | |
| longevity | |
| human-based units of measure | |
| SHOPPER'S DELIGHT | |
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PRESENTLY Various factors contribute to an individual's longevity. Significant factors in life expectancy include Genetics , access to health care, Hygiene , diet, exercise and lifestyle. Below is a list of life expectancies in different types of countries:
Tobacco Smoking is generally accepted to significantly reduce longevity, and is one of the main statistical factors explaining differences in life expectancy between advanced nations. This may be offset by other factors; Japan , a country with a high rate of tobacco consumption, has one of the highest life expectancies in the world (81.15 years, 2005 est). Hong Kong , a dense 7 million people city with constant stress, recently reported a higher life expectancy than Japan (81.39 years, 2005 est) Population longevities can be seen as increasing due to increases in life expectancies around the world:
Records The current validated longevity records can be found in the list of Supercentenarian s. Notable individuals include:
HISTORY Reaching an old age has fascinated people for ages. There are many organizations dedicated to exploring the causes behind aging, ways to prevent aging, and ways to reverse aging. Despite the fact that it is no more than human nature to not wish to surrender to old age and death, a few organizations are against antiaging, because they believe it sacrifices the best interests of the new generation, that it is unnatural, or unethical. Others are dedicated towards it, seeing it as a form of Transhumanism and the pursuit of Immortality . Even among those who do not wish for eternal life, longevity may be desired to experience more of life, to provide a greater contribution to humanity. RELIGION The claim is that the life span of humans has changed; that originally man was to have everlasting life, but due to man's Sin , God progressively shortened man's life in the "four falls of mankind" -- first to less than 1000 years, then to under 500, 200, and eventually 120 years. Non-fundamentalist Christians, Skeptics and Atheists tend to consider such stories to be among the longevity myths, noting that age exaggeration tends to be greater in "mythical" periods in many cultures; the early emperors of Japan or China often ruled for more than a century, according to tradition. With the advent of modern accountable record-keeping, age claims fell to realistic levels; even later in the Bible King David died at 70 years; other kings in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. The Bible also says that after those long living people died, God decided that humans would not be permitted to live more than 120 years (Genesis 6:3. FUTURE The mainstream view on the future of longevity, such as the US Census Bureau, is that life expectancy in the USA will be in the mid-80s by the year 2050 (up from 77 today) and will top out eventually in the low 90s, barring major scientific advances that can change the rate of human aging itself, as opposed to merely treating the effects of aging as is done today. The Census Bureau also predicted that the USA would have 5.3 million people aged over 100 in 2100. Recent increases in the rates of Obesity -related diseases, such as Diabetes , Hypertension , and Heart Disease , may however drastically slow or reverse this trend toward increasing life expectancy in the developed world. NON-HUMAN BIOLOGICAL LONGEVITY Living:
Dead:
SCIENTIFIC BOOKS ON LONGEVITY Leonid A. Gavrilov & Natalia S. Gavrilova (1991), ''The Biology of Life Span: A Quantitative Approach''. New York: Harwood Academic Publisher, ISBN 3718649837 LONGEVITY IN FICTION
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