Old-age survival has considerably improved in the second half of the twentieth century. Why has such a substantial extension of human lifespan occurred? How long can we live? In this book, these fundamental questions are explored by experts from diverse fields. They report on recent cutting-edge studies about essential issues of human longevity and social factors of long survival in old age.

Inhalt
Theoretical and Comparative Biological Concepts.- Research Issues on Human Longevity.- Patterns in Mammalian Ageing: Demography and Evolution.- Life Span Extension in Humans is Self-Reinforcing: A General Theory of Longevity.- Empirical and Analytical Studies of Ageing and Oldest-Old Populations.- Oldest-Old Mortality in China.- Central and Dispersion Indicators of Individual Life Duration: New Methods.- Recent Trends in Life Expectancy and Rectangularisation of the Survival Curve at Advanced Ages in The Netherlands.- The Validation of Exceptional Male Longevity in Sardinia.- Mortality at Extreme Ages and Data Quality: The Canadian Experience.- Causes of Death and Biological Frailty.- Causes of Death among the Oldest-Old: Validity and Comparability.- Causes of Death among the Oldest-Old: Age-Related Changes in the Cause-of-Death Distribution.- Genetic Factors Associated with Individual Life Duration: Heritability.- Mortality among the Least Frail: Lessons from Research on the APOE GENE.- Sex, Gender, and Social Determinants and Consequences of Mortality.- Social Determinants of Mortality in the Oldest-Old: Social Class and Individual Way-of-Life.- Social Differences in Older Adult Mortality in the United States: Questions, Data, Methods, and Results.- Mortality Differences by Sex among the Oldest-Old.- Causes of the Trend in Mortality and Morbidity.- Explanation of the Decline in Mortality among the Oldest-Old: The Impact of Circulatory Diseases.- Explanation of the Decline in Mortality among the Oldest-Old: A Demographic Point of View.- Marital Status and Family Support for the Oldest-Old in Great Britain.- Causes of the Trend in Mortality and Morbidity.- Marital Status and Family Support for the Oldest-Old in Great Britain.