Search results for "expectancy"

“Positive biology”: the centenarian lesson

2012

Abstract The extraordinary increase of the elderly in developed countries underscore the importance of studies on ageing and longevity and the need for the prompt spread of knowledge about ageing in order to satisfactorily decrease the medical, economic and social problems associated to advancing years, because of the increased number of individuals not autonomous and affected by invalidating pathologies. Centenarians are equipped to reach the extreme limits of human life span and, most importantly, to show relatively good health, being able to perform their routine daily life and to escape fatal age-related diseases. Thus, they are the best example of extreme longevity, representing select…

Understanding ageing: Biomedical and bioengineering approaches, the immunologic view

2008

Abstract During the past century, humans have gained more years of average life expectancy than in the last 10,000 years; we are now living in a rapidly ageing world. The sharp rise in life expectancy, coupled to a steady decline in birth rates in all developed countries, has led to an unprecedented demographic revolution characterized by an explosive growth in the number and proportion of older people. Ageing is a complex process that negatively impacts the development of the immune system and its ability to function. Progressive changes in the T and B cell systems over the life span have a major impact on the capacity to respond to immune challenge. These cumulative age-associated changes…

2017

Summary Background National levels of personal health-care access and quality can be approximated by measuring mortality rates from causes that should not be fatal in the presence of effective medical care (ie, amenable mortality). Previous analyses of mortality amenable to health care only focused on high-income countries and faced several methodological challenges. In the present analysis, we use the highly standardised cause of death and risk factor estimates generated through the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) to improve and expand the quantification of personal health-care access and quality for 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2015. Methods…

Preventive Medicine and Healthy Longevity: Basis for Sustainable Anti-Aging Strategies

2016

In the last century, both human life expectancy and maximum life span potential increased [1]. The analysis of North European mortality curves suggests that a relevant role for this phenomenon was played by the reduction of lifetime pathogen burden [2]. Whatever was the real cause, at the end of 1900, the improved hygienic conditions, the proper diet, the better health condition, and the decreased infant mortality elevated life expectation up to 80 years, with a consequent raise in elderly population of industrialized countries. In the society, the public perception of advanced aging involves the inability to survive alone due to chronic diseases and the combined loss of mobility, sensory f…

Anti-aging medicine: pitfalls and hopes

2009

Since the beginnings of time humans have searched for a fountain of youth. This has led to many extravagant claims which have been highly profitable for their proponents. This area has become known as anti-aging medicine and has deservedly been frowned upon by the medical establishment. On the other hand, in the last decades dramatic advances in our understanding of the aging process have come from studies in worms, flies and mice. This article reviews some of these advances and places the extravagant claims of anti-aging medicine in perspective. We conclude that a balanced diet of moderate proportions and exercise remain today the only proven fountain of youth. © 2009 Informa UK Ltd.

2017

Abstract Background The burden of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remains unclear in many regions of the world. Objectives The GBD (Global Burden of Disease) 2015 study integrated data on disease incidence, prevalence, and mortality to produce consistent, up-to-date estimates for cardiovascular burden. Methods CVD mortality was estimated from vital registration and verbal autopsy data. CVD prevalence was estimated using modeling software and data from health surveys, prospective cohorts, health system administrative data, and registries. Years lived with disability (YLD) were estimated by multiplying prevalence by disability weights. Years of life lost (YLL) were estimated by multiplying age…

2017

Summary Background As mortality rates decline, life expectancy increases, and populations age, non-fatal outcomes of diseases and injuries are becoming a larger component of the global burden of disease. The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2016 (GBD 2016) provides a comprehensive assessment of prevalence, incidence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) for 328 causes in 195 countries and territories from 1990 to 2016. Methods We estimated prevalence and incidence for 328 diseases and injuries and 2982 sequelae, their non-fatal consequences. We used DisMod-MR 2.1, a Bayesian meta-regression tool, as the main method of estimation, ensuring consistency between inc…

Effective pursuit of personal goals: The fostering effect of dispositional optimism on goal commitment and goal progress

2015

Abstract Personal goals play a leading role in directing behavior and influencing well-being. Thus, it is important to assess goal dimensions promoting effective goal pursuit. The current research aimed at identifying the best predictors of goal pursuit, operationalized as perceived goal progress, among goal-related variables and individual differences in dispositional optimism. Two studies examined the influence of optimism on goal progress, commitment, expectancy, value, and conflict. Moreover, the mediation effect of expectancy in the relationships among optimism, commitment and progress was assessed. Participants in the first cross-sectional study were 283 young people (19–32 years old)…

SIMULATING DEMOGRAPHY AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS

2014

[EN] A deterministic/stochastic model in which the demographic and the well-being subsystems of a country are involved and related is presented as a way to approach human development. The demographic subsystem is a side-by-side, single-gender, age-structured population dynamic model. The well-being subsystem states the dynamics of the United Nations Hybrid Human Development Index. The model has been validated in the case of Spain and Belgium. Some simulations have been performed with the model for the case of Spain in the 2009-2020 period to determine strategies and scenarios that could increase the life expectancy at birth per gender. Copyright © 2014 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Can We Really (All) Work Longer?<br>Trends in Healthy Life Expectancy According to Social Stratum in Germany<br>

2013

Against the background of raising the retirement age to 67 years and the associated lengthening of working lifetimes in higher age groups, this article examines the question of the extent to which this political objective is covered by the health assets of the population. Here, we will first trace trends in “healthy” life expectancy among the total population for different points in time 1989, 1999 and 2009 on the basis of the data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP) and analyse these against the background of social strata indicators such as income and educational levels. Among others, one significant result is the fact that social differences have a far greater effect on healthy li…