01/12/2012
Some feedback from Dr Jacques Vallin’s seminar..... Titled ‘Is it possible to establish the maximum life expectancy?’. It was a thought- provoking examination of theories that seek to explain the ‘limit’ to life expectancy or plot the graph of continually increasing life expectancy.
The longevity of Jeanne Calment, who reached 122 years, confirms that the possibility certainly exists for human life to extend beyond the current expectation of 80 to 100 years, but whether or not this possibility will be replaced by probability remains to be seen.
Jim Oeppen and James Vaupel produced in 2002 an astonishing graph reflecting a continuous increase in life expectancy at a steady rate over the last century and a half. Their research, described in ‘Broken limits to life expectancy’, has been the focus of Vallin and Meslés’ research interrogating the concept of both the limit and the rate of increase.
Vallin and Meslés’ fresh insight, published 7 years later, identifies four distinct phases in increased rates of life expectancy, the momentum of each attributable to biomedical innovation and development. The role of Jenner’s development of vaccines is evident from 1790 to 1885, followed by the influence of Pasteur from 1886 to 1960, after which the life expectancy gains are determined by the ‘cardiovascular revolution’.
Currently no single biological threat has been identified as the impediment to life expectancy. The increasing gains made at older ages in Japan, which has a social culture of meeting the needs of the elderly, suggests that this commitment is significant. This is evident also in France where increased life expectancy is the norm.
Vallin comments that social equity is a very important factor for life expectancy, the biggest challenge to extending life expectancy being the inequitable access to resources across population groups. He rates Japan as the most egalitarian society in the world.
