Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
REVIEW
Introduction
The determinants of longevity might be expected to
be well understood. The duration of life has captured
the attention of many people for thousands of years ;
an enormous array of vital-statistics data are available for many centuries. Life-span is easily measured
compared with other health phenomena, and in
many countries data are available on whole populations and not just study samples. Knowledge
concerning determinants of human longevity, however, is still sparse, and much of the little that is
known has been learned in recent years. This review
# 1996 Blackwell Science Ltd
334
K. C H R I S T E N S EN & J. W. V A U P E L
Environment
Year of birth
Smoking (?)
Alcohol (?)
Diet (?)
Medicine
335
Females
Country
1910
1930
1960
1970
1985
1993
1910
1930
1960
1970
1985
1993
Island
Norway
Denmark
Sweden
Finland
49.9
55.0
55.6
55.2
45.4
58.1
62.8
61.5
62.3
52.9
70.7
71.2
70.4
71.4
65.2
71.1
71.2
70.7
72.2
66.4
74.0
72.8
71.6
73.8
70.1
76.9
74.2
72.3
75.5
72.1
54.7
58.8
58.5
57.6
48.1
62.3
65.7
63.2
64.4
57.3
75.5
75.7
74.1
75.2
72.3
76.9
77.1
75.8
77.1
74.6
80.2
79.6
77.5
79.7
78.5
80.7
80.3
77.6
80.8
79.5
a From Caselli G, Mesle! F, Vallin J. Le triomphe de la meU dicine. Paris : Institut National dE; tudes Demographiques, 1995 ; and Nordic
Statistical Secretariat, eds. Yearbook of Nordic Statistics 1995. Copenhagen : Nordic Council of Ministers, 1995.
336
K. C H R I S T E N S EN & J. W. V A U P E L
337
Probably multiple
Environment
Year of birth
Socio-economic status
Education
Occupation
Smoking
Alcohol
Body-mass index
Diet (?)
Physical activity (?)
Intra-uterine conditions (?)
Medicine
Probably multiple
338
K. C H R I S T E N S EN & J. W. V A U P E L
339
A newborn homozygous
for the autosomal recessive
trait phenylketonuria
Conclusion
Knowledge of the determinants of human longevity
is still sparse. On the population level, a number of
factors associated with mortality can be identified.
On the individual level, however, these associations
are too weak to be reliable predictors of a person s
lifespan. This can be illustrated by a case history. A
Danish woman, who was born in 1890 and who
grew up in a poor family, was sent away from home
when she was 17 because she had severe tuberculosis
that was a potential hazard to the rest of the family.
The infection was treated with an operation. At the
age of 48 she got breast cancer, first in one breast
340
K. C H R I S T E N S EN & J. W. V A U P E L
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16
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18
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Acknowledgements
20
21
22
23
References
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
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