Rock-Stars-of-Aging-by-Marc-Middleton

Rock Stars of Aging
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Chapter FOUR
Life Span vs. Life Expectancy
“The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.” -- Frank Lloyd
Wright, architect (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959
Life span and life expectancy are two very different things. Life
expectancy is a statistical average. It’s the age to which most of us
can expect to live. It accounts for everyone who lives to be very old
and those who die in childbirth. Life expectancy was very low in the
Dark Ages because so many died at birth; there were countless
untreatable diseases in addition to very little medicine, no healthcare,
accidents, infections, malnutrition and more. And of course, no one
swam laps, ran triathlons or worked out at the local gym. Life
expectancy has risen dramatically over the past couple hundred
years but not because of a change in human genetics or the aging
process. It has risen because of improved healthcare and better
lifestyle.
Life span is defined as the age of the oldest living individual of a
species. For humans, it's 122 years. That's how old Madame Jeanne
Calment was when she died in France in August 1987. Without
genetic intervention, it’s unlikely life span will increase as dramatically
as life expectancy has. Human beings are designed to live only so
long. But very few of us even approach that which we are designed
for. Centenarians are the exceptions.
Let’s get back to genetics for a moment, because science fiction is
about to collide with reality. An increasing number of scientists
believe there may not be an upper limit to human lifespan and that
Rock Stars of Aging
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