What is Lifespan?

Term Paper # 110387

Aging
Medical and Health > Medical Studies
Medical and Health > Nutrition and Exercise

What is Lifespan?

A discussion on life expectancy.

2,421 words () | 17 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper looks into the issue of our life expectancy, providing information and data from various studies that have been carried out on this subject. The author also explains how current discoveries about the architectural structure of our DNA and other scientific advances may mean that we will soon be able to extend the maximum human lifespan and postpone or prevent the onset of diseases associated with aging.

From the Paper:

"Lifelpan is the accepted term denoting and/or defining the most likely number of years a person is expected to live within his or her lifetime taking place between birth and death. Accordingly, average longevity in humans is often expressed as life expectancy. Life expectancy is the number of years a person can expect to live. Although life expectancy is many times logistically impacted in that it may largely be influenced by the level of quality and/or standard of life that a person lives within geographic location within his or her lifetime. A standard of life has to do with the quality of public health, medical facilitations and levels of nutrition available, which varies greatly between different nations and countries. As a result, Hirsh et al (2000) reports that one population is advantaged relative to another by our definition if its survival function is greater at all ages."

Sample of Sources Used:

Austad, S. N. (2005) "Diverse aging rates in metazoans: targets for functional genomics." [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Mech Ageing Dev 126(1):43-49.
Banks (1998). Telomeres, cancer, and aging. Altering the human life span. The Journal of American Medivcal Association (JAMA). Vol. 279 No. 16:1732-1735
Bianchini (2003). Wine and resveratrol: mechanisms of cancer prevention? International Agency for Research on Cancer, Unit of Chemoprevention, Lyon Cedex, France. [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] 12(5):417-25.
Bourhenne (2001). How To Live The Longest Life Possible: Can You Live Forever? Gerontologist Guild Registration Number 679848. Chapter 3.
Galor (2000). "Natural Selection and the Evolution of Life Expectancy." Minerva Scientific Center for Economic Growth. Paper No. 02-05