Talking With Caleb Finch
The Daily Herald interviews gerontologist Caleb Finch: "In the last 200 years, one year of extra lifespan has been added for about every four years of historical time. Life expectancy has doubled since the industrial revolution, from about 40 years to near 80 years. ... Longer lifespans have been a worldwide phenomenon associated with improvements in hygiene and medical care and reductions in infectious disease. Some have explained this through the reduction of infant mortality. But we're also living longer because we're staying healthier -- kids have fewer infectious diseases to fight with. This reduction of inflammation and infection, along with the improvement of nutrition, has contributed to longevity by slowing many of the diseases of aging. ... It's by no means certain that the life span increases of the last 200 years will continue at the same rate or be available to all people. My own hunch is that life span could increase considerably more, but it may depend on finances and access to top-level medical resources." The conservative public positions of mainstream gerontology are slowly being drawn closer to a more sensible outlook - that we can do a great deal to extend human life span in the next few decades, and we should get working on that right away.