How to live for ever
http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=5545419
Feb 23rd 2006
From The Economist print edition
The latest from the wacky world of anti-senescence therapy
DEATH is a fact of life-at least it has been so far. Humans grow old.
From early adulthood, performance starts to wane. Muscles become
progressively weaker, cognition fails. But the point at which age turns
to ill health and, ultimately, death is shifting-that is, people are
remaining healthier for longer. And that raises the question of how
death might be postponed, and whether it might be postponed
indefinitely.
Humans are certainly living longer. An American child born in 1970
could expect to live 70.8 years. By 2000, that had increased to 77
years. Moreover, an adult still alive at the age of 75 in 2002 could
expect a further 11.5 years of life.
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