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AH 3 Vaupel and V - Kistowski
AH 3 Vaupel and V - Kistowski
AGEING HORIZONS
Issue No. 3, 6–13
World Bank
various genetic changes and non-genetic interactions. Olshansky et al.
UN
Increases in human life expectancy are largely attributed Fries, Olshansky et al.,
Coale Coale & Guo
to improvements in old-age survival. A reasonable World Bank, UN
UN, Frejka
rise in the coming decades, fuelled by advances in the
prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of age-related
Dublin
diseases. If the trend continues, life expectancy in Europe Dublin & Lotka
Introduction
The German president congratulates German citizens when
they celebrate their 100th birthday. This act may not have Figure 1. Record female life expectancy from 1840 to the present. The
placed high demands on the president’s time 50 years ago. linear-regression trend is depicted by a bold black line (slope = 0.243)
and the extrapolated trend by a dashed grey line. The horizontal black
Today, however, it is a time-consuming exercise: The lines show asserted ceilings on life expectancy, with a short vertical
probability of an 80 year old surviving to the age of 100 line indicating the year of publication. The dashed red lines denote
has increased twenty-fold in industrialised countries since projections of female life expectancy in Japan published by the United
1950 (Vaupel & Jeune, 1995). On average, we are getting Nations in 1986, 1999, and 2001. Notice the altered UN projection
between 1999 and 2001. (source: Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002)
older and evidence suggests that we continue to do so. We
have no reason to expect that we are approaching a limit
to life expectancy (Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002). Mortality at The four-decade increase in best-practice life expectancy is
older ages has fallen dramatically since 1950 in developed so extraordinarily linear that it may be the most remark-
countries and increases in maximum human life-spans can able regularity of mass endeavour observed. On average,
largely be attributed to improvements in survival at older women live longer than men, but record life expectancy has
and oldest-old ages (Kannisto, 1994; Kannisto et al, 1994; also risen linearly for men since 1840, albeit more slowly
Vaupel & Jeune, 1995; Vaupel, 1997). Social progress, (slope = 0.222). The improvements in survival that have
health improvements, and research efforts have made their lead to this linear climb of record life expectancy result
contributions to this development. Social security and from the intricate interplay of advances in income,
health systems, in turn, have been challenged by the aging salubrity, nutrition, education, sanitation and, above all,
of society. Ignoring the assumptions of rising life medicine (Riley, 2001).
expectancy may lead to forecast underestimations, inap-
propriate decisions or even the failure to take necessary Looking at individual countries, gains in life expectancy
decisions – possibly with severe consequences for life today have not progressed as linearly (Fig. 2). The gap between
and tomorrow. the record and the national level can be regarded as a
6
measure of how much better a country might do. However, (Kannisto-Thatcher Database). In developed countries the
neither the trend in record life expectancy nor the life number of people celebrating their 100th birthday doubled
expectancy trajectories in different countries suggest that a each decade between 1950 and 1980; by the end of the last
looming limit to life expectancy is in sight. Although rapid century the number has multiplied by a factor of 2.4 per
progress in catch-up periods is typically followed by slower decade.
increases, none of the curves appear to approach a
maximum value (Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002).
The myth of a looming limit
90 As the expectation of life rose higher and higher, experts
United States were unable to imagine a continuation of this development.
85
Japan A common assumption still widely held is that the life-span
80 Norway cannot be extended beyond a biologically determined limit.
New Zealand (non-Maori) This fixed life-span could be likened to a sand-glass
75 Germany containing a definite amount of sand. The sand running
down can be stopped when the sand-glass is put on its side
Life expectancy in years
70
but it cannot be refilled while the sand is running. The
65 notion of an inevitable maximum life-span also influences
scientific explanations of longevity (see e.g. Fries, 1980;
60 Olshansky et al, 1990). Some experts envision biological
barriers and practical impediments in support of this idea.
55
The idea evolved into a belief in a biological maximum –
50 a looming limit of life expectancy.
45
Fixed limits
40
Ever since research into longevity began, attempts have
35 been made to determine the absolute and maximum life
expectancy that man could reach (Table 1). The ceilings
30 proposed by various authors differ but they have one thing
in common: Their own limited life-span. Every predicted
1840
1920
1900
1940
1980
1960
2000
1860
1880
Rising numbers of centenarians Explanations for the supposedly obvious limit to life
Another piece of striking evidence for the undiminished expectancy
increase in longevity is the rising number of centenarians The assumption of a finite, biological limit to life can be
in developed countries. What seemed impossible to achieve traced back to Aristotle. In his treatise ‘On Youth and Old
in the past – despite spectacular reports – is increasingly Age, On Life and Death’ Aristotle contrasted two types of
becoming part of our reality today. death: premature death caused by disease or accident, and
senescent death due to old age. He believed that nothing
It is unlikely that any person living before 1800 in Sweden could be done about old age and thus about the end to life
attained the age of 100 (Jeune, 1995) and even in the world (Aristotle, transl. G.R.T. Ross). More than 2300 years
as a whole centenarians were exceedingly rare (Wilmoth, later, James Fries quantified Aristotles’ differentiation in a
1995). Data on the pre-18th century period have to be widely cited article published in the New England Journal
interpreted with caution. Few reliable statistics are avail- of Medicine: If life is not cut short by accident or illness,
able on mortality levels among the very old living under life-span of man will inevitably approach a potential
conditions of low life expectancy. The lower life maximum limit that is fixed for every human but differs
expectancy is, the greater is the tendency to exaggerate age from individual to individual (Kannisto-Thatcher
at older ages (Kannisto, 1994). Today, the number of Database). According to Fries, the fixed value of maximum
centenarians in developed countries is increasing at an life-span is normally distributed with a mean of 85 years
exceptionally rapid rate of about 8% per year on average and a standard deviation of 7 years. Fries emphasises that
(Vaupel & Jeune, 1995). While 265 centenarians were nothing can be done to alter a person’s maximum life-span
counted in England and Wales in 1950, there were 6680 of as the latter is beyond the influence of any environmental,
them 50 years later, that is 25 times the 1950 figure behavioural, or medical intervention currently conceivable.
7
Table 1. Selection of estimates of maximum average life expectancy death sooner rather than later. In theory, postreproductive
for females and males or females only. Limits pertain to life expectancy spans of life should be very short. Although this theory has
at birth, with two exceptions (*). Fries asserted that if all premature
death were eliminated, ages at death would follow a normal been extended and modified, it is still regarded as the domi-
distribution with a mean of 85 and a standard deviation that he gave nant paradigm for the evolution of aging (Rose, 1991).
as 5 in 1980 and as 7 in 1990. For Olshansky et al., the value of 85
shown in this table is 50 plus remaining life expectancy at age 50,
which they assert will not exceed 35 years. (altered according to No evidence of a fixed amount of sand in the sand-glass
Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002 supplements)
of life
The notion of a fixed time it takes for the sand in the sand-
glass of life to reach its bottom may be intuitively accepted
Source Limit * Date f: female Date Exceeded by
published m: male exceeded females in by many, yet there is no empirical evidence for a proxi-
(year) (year) mate limit to human longevity. The steady rise in human
life expectancy shows no signs of levelling off. First,
Dublin 64.75 1928 f+m 1922 New Zealand
experts repeatedly asserting that life expectancy is
Dublin & Lotka 69.93 1936 f+m 1941 Iceland approaching a ceiling have been proven wrong over and
Dublin 70.8 1941 f+m 1946 Norway over (Table 1). Second, the apparent levelling off of life
expectancy in various countries is, in fact, a reflection of
Nizar & Vallin 76.8 195 f 1967 Norway
laggards catching up and leaders falling behind without
Wunsch 76.8 1970 f 1967 Norway approaching maximum values (Fig. 2). Third, if life
Freijka 77.5 1981 f 1972 Sweden expectancy were approaching an unavoidable biologically
maximum that cannot be surmounted, then the increase in
Bourgeois-Pichat 78.2 1952 f 1975 Iceland
life expectancy should be slowing especially in countries
Siegel 79.4 1980 f+m 1976 Iceland that witness the lowest death rates. This is not the case,
Bourgeois-Pichat 80.3 1978 f 1985 Japan however (Vaupel, 1997; Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002).
Demeny 82.5 1984 f 1993 Japan
8
(Vaupel et al, 1998). An exciting finding is that late-life
mortality deceleration appears to be a rather widespread
phenomenon: Aging can cease at late ages. As for humans,
flies, and worms, deceleration is observed at ages at which
reproduction has ceased.
9
increases in age-specific death rates (Vaupel et al, 1979; Placed in a broader context, this conclusion also applies to
Curtsinger et al, 1992; Vaupel & Carey, 1993; Yashin et humans. It can be illustrated well by an unplanned ‘natural
al, 1994). experiment’ in Germany’s recent history. Pre-unified East
and West Germany saw a radical decline in old-age mortal-
But it is also conditions that living organisms are exposed ity, as is typical for most developed countries. In the
to that potentially influence longevity. Environmental former GDR, however, mortality was considerably higher
conditions and food resources are subject to uncertainty than in West Germany. Following reunification (1989-
and change. On the one hand, many species have devel- 1990), old-age mortality in East Germany declined to reach
oped strategies by switching to alternative physiological the levels prevailing in the West (Fig. 4) (Scholz & Maier,
modes in order to cope with adverse seasons or conditions. 2003; Gjonca et al, 2000), a development largely attributed
These phases of dormancy allow species to survive over to improved health care for the elderly after reunification.
extended periods of suspended or metabolic activity largely Thus, interventions even late in life can switch death rates
reduced. On the other hand, several environmental factors to a lower, healthier trajectory. It’s never too late to start
or non-lethal stresses, e.g., food shortage or heat shock, prolonging your life (Vaupel et al, 2003).
can induce increases both in resistance and longevity
(Lithgow et al, 1995; Murakami & Johnson, 1996;
Masoro, 2000).
10
influence longevity and, apparently connected to that, many years ago by our mothers. Don’t drink too much
increase resistance to environmental stress (Guarente & alcohol, don’t smoke, don’t eat too much butter, eat fruit
Kenyon, 2000). Do these findings lead to an understand- and vegetables, take a long walk every day and laugh as
ing of any central mechanisms of the aging process? There much as you can. The causality is complex and the secrets
is no definite answer to this question yet. What we know of longevity have not been discovered yet– we cannot count
today is that many of the relevant genes regulate the overall on living to advanced old age by following precise recipes.
metabolism and the response to oxidative stress. The latter In the past, different factors have played major and minor
arises when more reactive oxygen species are produced roles at different times and combined they have nonethe-
than the cell’s antioxidative systems can eliminate. Here, less led to a stable increase in average life expectancy.
interesting connections between the genetic and environ- This will also apply to the future. Just as medical break-
mental determinants of longevity emerge. throughs, for example the discovery of antibiotics or
advances in organ transplantation, were not foreseen, we
Aging, however, seems more complex and apparently do not know what major technological innovations the
cannot be dissected into its components very easily. Many future will bring to promote long and healthy lives. But
genes influence longevity (Lee et al, 2003). Moreover, there is no reason to assume that progress in technological
genes are only one part of the story. At least in humans, knowledge and its exploitation will come to a halt. It would
life-span has a relatively low heritability. Studies on twins not make sense to take the standards of today to estimate
indicate that only 25% of the variation in life-span can be the conditions influencing life expectancy tomorrow.
attributed to genetic differences (Finch & Tanzi, 1997).
All the discoveries of genetic and environmental factors
that contribute to extensions in life-span have not been able
to fully explain the malleability of aging. Our understand-
Challenges
ing of the aging process both of worms and humans is far
from complete – we are just at the beginning. But the find- The future of aging: Forecasts
ings have highlighted one thing very clearly: There are The future of human life expectancy is uncertain. The
means and ways of delaying aging. prevailing causes of rising life expectancy may have under-
gone changes and may be complex, but the resultant
straight line of life expectancy increase is simple (Fig. 1).
Malleability of aging in humans As best-practice life expectancy has increased by 2.5 years
Human life expectancy is rising and, naturally, neither per decade for the past 160 years, one reasonable scenario
genetic engineering nor life-long caloric restriction have led would be that this trend will continue in coming decades.
to the remarkable development. Instead, genetic predispo- To date, there is no indication that a change of the trend
sition to a smaller extent and behavioural and is in sight. In that case, there will be a country in about
environmental conditions influencing human health to a six decades where the average life expectancy may pass the
larger degree have prolonged the average life-span for threshold of 100 years (Oeppen & Vaupel, 2002). We are
people in economically advanced countries. So, aging can not talking about immortality – we are talking of modest
apparently be prolonged, but how many decades will this annual increments in average life expectancy. We do not
march to longevity continue? Why do so many believe the know for how many decades this march to longevity will
end to possible aging plasticity is just ahead? continue. But centenarians may well become commonplace
during the lifetime of people alive today.
The widespread belief in a looming limit to life expectancy
is generally not explained by referring to Aristotle or The pertinacious belief in a looming and pre-determined
Hamilton. The uneasiness to accept an ongoing increase in limit to life expectancy may lead to severe consequences
average life expectancy is rather grounded on the inability as it distorts public and private decision-making. Official
to understand how this is achieved. Research results of the forecasts of life expectancy have not considered the contin-
past 20 years have helped tremendously to understand some uous increase in life expectancy according to the long-term
basic features of aging, and we have come closer to an stability in mortality declines observed. These forecasts are
understanding of the nature of human aging. We know, for used by governments nevertheless to determine future
instance, that the complex interaction of behavioural and pension, health care, and other social needs, and people
social factors as well as medical advances have contributed refer to them in order to plan their savings or retirement
to increasing average life expectancy. Advances in medi- ages. Increases in life expectancy of a few years can
cine, however, are much better understood than the produce large changes in the numbers of old and oldest old
underlying mechanisms of behavioural and environmental who will need support and care. Official forecasts there-
influences. The prospects for the development of average fore give politicians licence to postpone painful adjustments
life expectancy often seem to be influenced by considera- to social security and health care systems.
tions of individual longevity. What can we do to increase
our chances of living a long and healthy life? Apart from Life expectancy for individual countries can be forecast by
hoping that we will have access to the best medical care a number of methods, one of them considering the gap
available, we probably all heard the best advice ever given between national performance and the best-practice level
11
(Fig. 2). Let’s consider Germany: Referring to the gap cardiovascular or neurodegenerative disease (Finkel &
method, life expectancy would reach an average of 94 Holbrook, 2000). Moreover, there are indications that age-
(± 3,8) years by 2050 (Schnabel & Vaupel, unpubl.), which related physiological and molecular changes might promote
is considerably higher than the Federal Statistical Office cancer, and in particular epithelial carcinogenesis
forecast of 86.6 or the Eurostat forecast of 84 years (DePinho, 2000).
(Eurostat Database New Cronos, 2001; Statistisches
Bundesamt, 2003). Forecasts of life expectancy for 2050 Future advances in life expectancy will be made as we
differ by up to 10 years. We are in danger of being unpre- progress in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of
pared for unprecedented socio-economic situations that we deadly age-related diseases (Barbi & Vaupel, 2005). A
may face if we will not have developed adequate concepts source of optimism is the increasingly holistic understand-
to meet the new challenges ahead of us. ing of genetic control and regulation, the interaction of
proteins, and other mechanisms of the metabolism.
Molecular biology and systems biology make efforts to
The prospects of a long and healthy life unravel the underlying mechanism of human health, with
Infectious disease was the greatest scourge of mankind until its genetic, nutritional, and environmental determinants.
the first half of the 20th century when vaccination, antibi- Thus, the way is paved for targeted and individualised
otics, and other medical advances finally began to combat diagnosis and therapy. Regenerative medicine is another
many of the life-threatening diseases in industrialized coun- important field of development and research that has
tries, lowered the rates of infant and child mortality, and emerged and that may contribute to fighting age-related
limited the devastating effects of the largest epidemics. diseases. A common feature of age-related diseases is the
Exceptions like HIV and recent outbreaks of influenza have loss of function or degeneration of cells or tissues. Stem
to be mentioned. The steady increases in life expectancy cell research aims at finding ways to regenerate or renew
until 1950 can therefore be largely attributed to medical these damaged cells and tissues. And finally, progress
advances aimed at fighting infectious disease. made in understanding some fundamental and evolutionar-
ily conserved processes of aging in simple organisms
Today, cardiovascular disease and cancer are by far the two nourish the hope that interventions slowing down aging can
most common causes of death in Europe. Heart disease and be identified – and thereby possibly treatments to prolong
stroke accounted for more than half of all deaths and a long and healthy life (Nemoto & Finkel, 2004).
cancers were responsible for around 20% of all deaths in
Europe in 2002 (WHO, 2004). Can an understanding of the
general mechanisms of aging produce an understanding of Outlook
the processes that lead to increased susceptibility to age- We are living longer and the number of elderly is increas-
related diseases? And, if we were to discover ways to slow ing. This is an enormous achievement and good news for
down the fundamental processes of aging, would these those of us who hope to live to a ripe age. There are down-
automatically make a positive contribution to the combat sides to this, however. Rising longevity will pose major
against leading diseases that increase dramatically with age challenges to health care and social security systems. It
such as arteriosclerosis or cancer? will be necessary to promote research not only on prolong-
ing life but also on healthy aging – both for humanitarian
We are far from having answers to these questions. The reasons and on compelling economic grounds. The rising
findings on the causes of the rapidly increasing diseases number of retirees represents a ticking time bomb placed
associated with age are fragmentary. There are, however, right in the inner nucleus of the social security system –
indications that age-related diseases may share common there will be more and more people receiving transfer
mechanisms with the fundamental aging process. For payments for longer and longer periods of time. Only
example, the decreasing ability of an organism to respond insight and foresight, wise decisions, and fundamental
to oxidative stress, which is regarded as one of the leading reforms will help us to cope with increasing longevity and
proximate causes of aging in model organisms (Hekimi & thereby make longevity a great achievement of mankind.
Guarente, 2003), may play a role in the parthenogenesis of
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Correspondence
Prof James W. Vaupel
Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Konrad-Zuse-Str. 1, D-18057 Rostock, Germany
E-Mail: jwv@demogr.mpg.de
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