Download or read book History of Human Life Span and Mortality written by György Acsádi and published by . This book was released on 1970 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Monograph on historical trends in mortality and of population growth - covers forms of birth control, problems of maintaining the maximum age groups and creating employment opportunities, economic growth, aspects of ethnography, methodology of paleodemographic research, statistical method of forecasting, etc. Bibliography pp. 311 to 332.
Download or read book Longevity written by James R. Carey and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-01-12 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite our deep interest in mortality, little is known about why some individuals live to middle age and others to extreme old age. Life span, mortality, and aging present some of the most profound mysteries in biology. In Longevity, James Carey draws on unprecedented data to develop a biological and demographic framework for identifying the key factors that govern aging, life span, and mortality in humans and other animals. Carey presents the results of a monumental, twelve-year, National Institute on Aging-funded research project on the determinants of longevity using data from the life tables of five million Mediterranean fruit flies, the most comprehensive set of life table studies ever on the mortality dynamics of a single species. He interprets the fruit fly data within the context of human aging and the aging process in general to identify the determinants of mortality. Three key themes emerge: the absence of species-specific life span limits, the context-specific nature of the mortality rate, and biodemographic linkages between longevity and reproduction. A powerful foundation for the emerging field of biodemography and a rich framework for considering the future of human life span, Longevity will be an indispensable resource for readers from a range of fields including population biology, demography, gerontology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and medical research.
Download or read book Extra Life written by Steven Johnson and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Offers a useful reminder of the role of modern science in fundamentally transforming all of our lives.” —President Barack Obama (on Twitter) “An important book.” —Steven Pinker, The New York Times Book Review The surprising and important story of how humans gained what amounts to an extra life, from the bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Where Good Ideas Come From In 1920, at the end of the last major pandemic, global life expectancy was just over forty years. Today, in many parts of the world, human beings can expect to live more than eighty years. As a species we have doubled our life expectancy in just one century. There are few measures of human progress more astonishing than this increased longevity. Extra Life is Steven Johnson’s attempt to understand where that progress came from, telling the epic story of one of humanity’s greatest achievements. How many of those extra years came from vaccines, or the decrease in famines, or seatbelts? What are the forces that now keep us alive longer? Behind each breakthrough lies an inspiring story of cooperative innovation, of brilliant thinkers bolstered by strong systems of public support and collaborative networks, and of dedicated activists fighting for meaningful reform. But for all its focus on positive change, this book is also a reminder that meaningful gaps in life expectancy still exist, and that new threats loom on the horizon, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear. How do we avoid decreases in life expectancy as our public health systems face unprecedented challenges? What current technologies or interventions that could reduce the impact of future crises are we somehow ignoring? A study in how meaningful change happens in society, Extra Life celebrates the enduring power of common goals and public resources, and the heroes of public health and medicine too often ignored in popular accounts of our history. This is the sweeping story of a revolution with immense public and personal consequences: the doubling of the human life span.
Download or read book Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High Income Countries written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-06-27 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the last 25 years, life expectancy at age 50 in the United States has been rising, but at a slower pace than in many other high-income countries, such as Japan and Australia. This difference is particularly notable given that the United States spends more on health care than any other nation. Concerned about this divergence, the National Institute on Aging asked the National Research Council to examine evidence on its possible causes. According to Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries, the nation's history of heavy smoking is a major reason why lifespans in the United States fall short of those in many other high-income nations. Evidence suggests that current obesity levels play a substantial part as well. The book reports that lack of universal access to health care in the U.S. also has increased mortality and reduced life expectancy, though this is a less significant factor for those over age 65 because of Medicare access. For the main causes of death at older ages-cancer and cardiovascular disease-available indicators do not suggest that the U.S. health care system is failing to prevent deaths that would be averted elsewhere. In fact, cancer detection and survival appear to be better in the U.S. than in most other high-income nations, and survival rates following a heart attack also are favorable. Explaining Divergent Levels of Longevity in High-Income Countries identifies many gaps in research. For instance, while lung cancer deaths are a reliable marker of the damage from smoking, no clear-cut marker exists for obesity, physical inactivity, social integration, or other risks considered in this book. Moreover, evaluation of these risk factors is based on observational studies, which-unlike randomized controlled trials-are subject to many biases.
Download or read book How Men Age written by Richard G. Bribiescas and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking book that examines all aspects of male aging through an evolutionary lens While the health of aging men has been a focus of biomedical research for years, evolutionary biology has not been part of the conversation—until now. How Men Age is the first book to explore how natural selection has shaped male aging, how evolutionary theory can inform our understanding of male health and well-being, and how older men may have contributed to the evolution of some of the very traits that make us human. In this informative and entertaining book, renowned biological anthropologist Richard Bribiescas looks at all aspects of male aging through an evolutionary lens. He describes how the challenges males faced in their evolutionary past influenced how they age today, and shows how this unique evolutionary history helps explain common aspects of male aging such as prostate disease, loss of muscle mass, changes in testosterone levels, increases in fat, erectile dysfunction, baldness, and shorter life spans than women. Bribiescas reveals how many of the physical and behavioral changes that we negatively associate with male aging may have actually facilitated the emergence of positive traits that have helped make humans so successful as a species, including parenting, long life spans, and high fertility. Popular science at its most compelling, How Men Age provides new perspectives on the aging process in men and how we became human, and also explores future challenges for human evolution—and the important role older men might play in them.
Download or read book The Evolution of Human Life History written by Kristen Hawkes and published by James Currey. This book was released on 2006 with total page 532 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Human beings may share 98 percent of their genetic makeup with their nonhuman primate cousins, but they have distinctive life histories. When and why did these uniquely human patterns evolve? To answer that question, this volume brings together specialists in hunter-gatherer behavioral ecology and demography, human growth, development, and nutrition, paleodemography, human paleontology, primatology, and the genomics of aging. The contributors identify and explain the peculiar features of human life histories, such as the rate and timing of processes that directly influence survival and reproduction. Drawing on new evidence from paleoanthropology, they question existing arguments that link human's extended childhood dependency and long 'post-reproductive'lives to brain development, learning, and distinctively human social structures. The volume reviews alternative explanations for the distinctiveness of human life history and incorporates multiple lines of evidence in order to test them.
Download or read book International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-02-27 with total page 428 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1950 men and women in the United States had a combined life expectancy of 68.9 years, the 12th highest life expectancy at birth in the world. Today, life expectancy is up to 79.2 years, yet the country is now 28th on the list, behind the United Kingdom, Korea, Canada, and France, among others. The United States does have higher rates of infant mortality and violent deaths than in other developed countries, but these factors do not fully account for the country's relatively poor ranking in life expectancy. International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages: Dimensions and Sources examines patterns in international differences in life expectancy above age 50 and assesses the evidence and arguments that have been advanced to explain the poor position of the United States relative to other countries. The papers in this deeply researched volume identify gaps in measurement, data, theory, and research design and pinpoint areas for future high-priority research in this area. In addition to examining the differences in mortality around the world, the papers in International Differences in Mortality at Older Ages look at health factors and life-style choices commonly believed to contribute to the observed international differences in life expectancy. They also identify strategic opportunities for health-related interventions. This book offers a wide variety of disciplinary and scholarly perspectives to the study of mortality, and it offers in-depth analyses that can serve health professionals, policy makers, statisticians, and researchers.
Download or read book Demographic Archaeology written by Fekri A. Hassan and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Only scattered references to Australia, mostly derived from Birdsells work.
Download or read book Exceptional Longevity written by Bernard Jeune and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: States that the number of genuine long-livers is exploding and a substantial proportion of new-borns in developed countries may survive to celebrate their 100th birthday. This book examines the storied realms of exceptional longevity.
Download or read book Rising Life Expectancy written by James C. Riley and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2001-06-04 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the global history of rising life expectancy in the last 200 years.
Download or read book Human Longevity the Major Determining Factors written by Joseph A. Knight M.D. and published by Author House. This book was released on 2010-12-09 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Two thousand years ago, the average life expectancy from birth to death of a Roman citizen, an individual better off than most people at that time, was about 22 years (wars, infectious diseases, trauma, etc.). This progressively increased to about 47 years in the U.S. and most European countries by 1900. Today, the average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years (women about five years more than men). However, unless the obesity pandemic is reversed and lifestyles improved, the average life expectancy will likely decrease significantly. conversely, if our lifestyles improve, the average life expectancy could reach 85 or more years. Growing older does not necessarily mean growing sicker. Thus, "don't just add years to your life, add life to your years" (Hans Selve). Indeed, of the 15 major causes of death in the U.S., 65-70% are lifestyle-related. In this book, the following documented topics that are associated with diseases and mortality are discussed in detail: theories of aging; diseases and mortality associated with obesity, physical inactivity and poor nutrition; psychological stress (anxiety, depression); addiction (alcohol, tobacco, drugs); violence (suicide, homicide); food-borne and infectious diseases (viral, bacterial, parasitic); and various other conditions (air pollution, asbestosis, trace metals).
Download or read book Life Expectancy written by Dean Koontz and published by Bantam. This book was released on 2007-06-15 with total page 498 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With his bestselling blend of nail-biting intensity, daring artistry, and storytelling magic, Dean Koontz returns with an emotional roller coaster of a tale filled with enough twists, turns, shocks, and surprises for ten ordinary novels. Here is the story of five days in the life of an ordinary man born to an extraordinary legacy—a story that will challenge the way you look at good and evil, life and death, and everything in between. Jimmy Tock comes into the world on the very night his grandfather leaves it. As a violent storm rages outside the hospital, Rudy Tock spends long hours walking the corridors between the expectant fathers' waiting room and his dying father's bedside. It's a strange vigil made all the stranger when, at the very height of the storm's fury, Josef Tock suddenly sits up in bed and speaks coherently for the frist and last time since his stroke. What he says before he dies is that there will be five dark days in the life of his grandson—five dates whose terrible events Jimmy will have to prepare himself to face. The first is to occur in his twentieth year; the second in his twent-third year; the third in his twenty-eighth; the fourth in his twenty-ninth; the fifth in his thirtieth. Rudy is all too ready to discount his father's last words as a dying man's delusional rambling. But then he discovers that Josef also predicted the time of his grandson's birth to the minute, as well as his exact height and weight, and the fact that Jimmy would be born with syndactyly—the unexplained anomal of fused digits—on his left foot. Suddenly the old man's predictions take on a chilling significance. What terrifying events await Jimmy on these five dark days? What nightmares will he face? What challenges must he survive? As the novel unfolds, picking up Jimmy's story at each of these crisis points, the path he must follow will defy every expectation. And with each crisis he faces, he will move closer to a fate he could never have imagined. For who Jimmy Tock is and what he must accomplish on the five days when his world turns is a mystery as dangerous as it is wondrous—a struggle against an evil so dark and pervasive, only the most extraordinary of human spirits can shine through. This ebook edition contains an excerpt of Dean Koontz’s The Silent Corner.
Download or read book Between Zeus and the Salmon written by Caleb E. Finch and published by . This book was released on 1997-10-29 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demographers and public health specialists have been surprised by the rapid increases in life expectancy, especially at the oldest ages, that have occurred since the early 1960s. Some scientists are calling into question the idea of a fixed upper limit for the human life span. There is new evidence about the genetic bases for both humans and other species. There are also new theories and models of the role of mutations accumulating over the life span and the possible evolutionary advantages of survival after the reproductive years. This volume deals with such diverse topics as the role of the elderly in other species and among human societies past and present, the contribution of evolutionary theory to our understanding of human longevity and intergenerational transfers, mathematical models for survival, and the potential for collecting genetic material in household surveys. It will be particularly valuable for promoting communication between the social and life sciences.
Download or read book Longevity To the Limits and Beyond written by Jean-Marie Robine and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why longevity? For a number of years, the Fondation IPSEN has been devoting considerable effort to the various aspects of ageing, not only to age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's, but also to the Centenarians, the paragon of positive ageing. The logical continuation of this approach is to address the question of longevity in global terms. Behind the extreme values, what span is accessible to all of us and likely to directly concern most of our contemporaries? The individual and col lective increase in the duration of life is one of the most striking phenomena of our time. It could be one of the most significant events in the "bio-social" history of humanity. The increase in life expectancy at old age, which started a few de cades ago only, is going on. The most well-advised observer had not foreseen or even dared hope for this increase which will drastically affect our everyday life, our habits and our behavior. In the fragment of human history we are living in, it is our responsibility to deal with this major transformation for the species. Such a transformation needs an effort from all to adapt to the new conditions. This transformation has to be managed rather than simply experienced, anticip ated rather than followed, in order to avoid any attempt to pervert this major step forward. All that was present during the first symposium of the new series on longevity of the Colloques Medecine et Recherche convened by the Fondation IPSEN.
Download or read book Exceptional Lifespans written by Heiner Maier and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-12-09 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How long can humans live? This open access book documents, verifies and brings to life the advance of the frontier of human survival. It carefully validates data on supercentenarians, aged 110+, and semi-supercentenarians, aged 105-109, stored in the International Database on Longevity (IDL). The chapters in this book contribute substantial advances in rigorously checked facts about exceptional lifespans and in the application of state-of-the-art analytical strategies to understand trends and patterns in these rare lifespans. The book includes detailed accounts of extreme long-livers and how their long lifespans were documented, as well as reports on the causes of death at the oldest ages. Its key finding, based on the analysis of 1,219 validated supercentenarians, is that the annual probability of death is constant at 50% after age 110. In contrast to previous assertions about a ceiling on the human lifespan, evidence presented in this book suggests that lifespan records in specific countries and globally will be broken again and again as more people survive to become supercentenarians.
Download or read book U S Health in International Perspective written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-04-12 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, but it is far from the healthiest. Although life expectancy and survival rates in the United States have improved dramatically over the past century, Americans live shorter lives and experience more injuries and illnesses than people in other high-income countries. The U.S. health disadvantage cannot be attributed solely to the adverse health status of racial or ethnic minorities or poor people: even highly advantaged Americans are in worse health than their counterparts in other, "peer" countries. In light of the new and growing evidence about the U.S. health disadvantage, the National Institutes of Health asked the National Research Council (NRC) and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a panel of experts to study the issue. The Panel on Understanding Cross-National Health Differences Among High-Income Countries examined whether the U.S. health disadvantage exists across the life span, considered potential explanations, and assessed the larger implications of the findings. U.S. Health in International Perspective presents detailed evidence on the issue, explores the possible explanations for the shorter and less healthy lives of Americans than those of people in comparable countries, and recommends actions by both government and nongovernment agencies and organizations to address the U.S. health disadvantage.
Download or read book Plagues upon the Earth written by Kyle Harper and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-10-12 with total page 704 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping germ’s-eye view of history from human origins to global pandemics Plagues upon the Earth is a monumental history of humans and their germs. Weaving together a grand narrative of global history with insights from cutting-edge genetics, Kyle Harper explains why humanity’s uniquely dangerous disease pool is rooted deep in our evolutionary past, and why its growth is accelerated by technological progress. He shows that the story of disease is entangled with the history of slavery, colonialism, and capitalism, and reveals the enduring effects of historical plagues in patterns of wealth, health, power, and inequality. He also tells the story of humanity’s escape from infectious disease—a triumph that makes life as we know it possible, yet destabilizes the environment and fosters new diseases. Panoramic in scope, Plagues upon the Earth traces the role of disease in the transition to farming, the spread of cities, the advance of transportation, and the stupendous increase in human population. Harper offers a new interpretation of humanity’s path to control over infectious disease—one where rising evolutionary threats constantly push back against human progress, and where the devastating effects of modernization contribute to the great divergence between societies. The book reminds us that human health is globally interdependent—and inseparable from the well-being of the planet itself. Putting the COVID-19 pandemic in perspective, Plagues upon the Earth tells the story of how we got here as a species, and it may help us decide where we want to go.
