Most Babies Born Since 2000 will Hit 100

(AP)  Most babies born in rich countries this century will eventually make it to their 100th birthday, new research says.

Danish experts say that since the 20th century, people in developed countries are living about three decades longer than in the past. Surprisingly, the trend shows little sign of slowing down.

In an article published Friday in the medical journal Lancet, the researchers write that the process of aging may be "modifiable."

James Vaupel of the Max Planck Institute in Germany and colleagues in Denmark examined studies published globally in 2004-2005 on numerous issues related to aging. They found life expectancy is increasing steadily in most countries, even beyond the limits of what scientists first thought possible. In Japan, for instance, which has the world's longest life expectancy, more than half of the country's 80-year-old women are expected to live to 90.

"Improvements in health care are leading to ever slowing rates of aging, challenging the idea that there is a fixed ceiling to human longevity," said David Gems, an aging expert at University College London. Gems was not connected to the research, and is studying drugs that can lengthen the life span of mice, which may one day have applications for people.

"Laboratory studies of mice, including our own, demonstrate that if you slow aging even just a little, it has a strong protective effect," he said. "A pill that slowed aging could provide protection against the whole gamut of aging-related diseases."

While illnesses affecting the elderly like heart disease, cancer and diabetes are rising, advances in medical treatment are also making it possible for them to remain active for longer. The obesity epidemic, however, may complicate matters. Extra weight makes people more susceptible to diseases and may increase their risk of dying.

In the U.S., data from 1982 to 2000 showed a major drop in illness and disability among the elderly, though that has now begun to reverse, probably linked to the rise in obesity.

The greying population will slowly radically transform society, and retirement ages may soon be pushed back, said Richard Suzman, an aging expert at the U.S. National Institute on Aging.

"We are within five to 10 years of a watershed event where there will be more people on earth over 65 than there under five," he said. "Those extra years need to be financed somehow and we need to start thinking about it now."

[erasmus111]

by Ichabod09 October 3, 2009 6:40 AM EDT
Slow aging? Are you sure that is what is being done?


They aren't actually slowing the aging process, they are just coming up with more pills to keep you going longer. When you get to be 90, you might feel like you want to die, you might look like the walking dead, but by golly those pills will keep that old heart pumpin'.

[Ichabod09]

Eras,

You may be right about just keeping the "old heart pumpin"-I think I saw something like that in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Don't ya love it when science fiction becomes reality?

[Ichabod09]

Slow aging? Are you sure that is what is being done? Or are there only degenerative processes that accumulate with time? When was the last time old age was put down as the cause of death on a death certificate?

What about metabolic syndrome and glycosylation as a model for many of the disease processes associated with aging?

Diet and exercise-the "fountain of youth"?

[rf35]

I value quality of life over quantity of life. If I'm still healthy and active at 100, fine. But if I'm confined to a wheelchair or bed-ridden, no thanks. I figure 70 will be about right for me.

[ludvig1-2009]

People were meant to live and then die. The planet don't need me or anyone else to live to 100 or to have your head cut off so you can be brought back like Ted Williams.

[amyelizabet2]

who in the hell would want to live so long? majority will have a limited quality of life living that long. I guess by then maybe you can just go in and get whole body replacement surgery, outpatient of course.

[cs4466]

Living longer is a good thing, except for the planet. We are rapidy overpopulating this blue ball. That would seem to be of paramount importance to reasonable people.

[Marc_1986]

@cs4466

So you're for population control?

[cs4466]

I am for reason and logic. By definition, at this point, that would have to include population control. Because an unnerving and pointless urge to spawn limitlessly is going to affect everyone's quality of life.