Res earc her Published by CQ Press, a Division of SAGE CQ www.cqresearcher.com Prolonging Life Should scientists try to increase the human lifespan? he number of elderly Americans is rising sharply. More than 1 million people will be at least 100 years old by 2050 — up from just 50,000 centenarians in T 2000. With more and more Americans living longer, policymakers worry that Social Security and Medicare costs will drain money from health and education programs for the young. Meanwhile, researchers are trying to prolong life even more, mak - ing old age a time of health and activity, not sickness and frailty. Some envision a future when people routinely live in good health José Temprana celebrates his new citizenship with a kiss in Miami on June 29, 2007 — at age 105. Born in to 100 or longer, aided, perhaps, by drugs that turn on “longevity” Cuba, he was a sponge diver and lobster fisherman before he was jailed for 30 years for opposing Fidel Castro. He fled to Florida after his release. genes, newly discovered secrets of long-lived people and even computer chips and tiny robotic devices implanted in humans to help them remain vigorous. But many gerontologists and ethicists I argue that the human body is far too complex for such drastic N THIS REPORT changes and that scientists should focus on improving health care S THE ISSUES ....................807 for all Americans, not increasing longevity. I CHRONOLOGY ................815 D BACKGROUND ................816 E CURRENT SITUATION ........820 CQ Researcher • Sept. 30, 2011 • www.cqresearcher.com AT ISSUE ........................821 Volume 21, Number 34 • Pages 805-828 OUTLOOK ......................824 RECIPIENT OF SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS AWARD FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY ................826 EXCELLENCE N AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION SILVER GAVEL AWARD THE NEXT STEP ..............827 PROLONGING LIFE CQ Re search er Sept. 30, 2011 THE ISSUES U.S. Ranks 50th in Life Volume 21, Number 34 809 Expectancy • Can the human lifespan The average American can MANAGING EDITOR: Thomas J. Billitteri 807 be extended? expect to live to age 78. [email protected] • Should the human ASSISTANT MANAGING EDITOR: Kathy Koch lifespan be extended? A Glossary on Aging [email protected] 811 From antioxidants and cellular • Should the government CONTRIBUTING EDITOR: Thomas J. Colin senescence to free radicals [email protected] invest in extending life? and telomeres. BACKGROUND ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kenneth Jost More People in U.S. Living STAFF WRITERS: Marcia Clemmitt, Peter Katel 812 Past 110 Lure of Eternal Youth Seventy-four Americans were CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Sarah Glazer, 816 Humans have sought long 110 or older in 1999. Alan Greenblatt, Barbara Mantel, Tom Price, life since ancient times. Jennifer Weeks 813 ‘Best and Brightest’ Kids DESIGN /P RODUCTION EDITOR: Olu B. Davis Cellular Aging Reveal Longevity Secrets ASSISTANT EDITOR: Darrell Dela Rosa 819 Normal human cells are Those with good habits lived not immortal, but cancer the longest. FACT CHECKER: Michelle Harris cells are. Chronology 815 Key events since 1825. CURRENT SITUATION 816 Futurists Reach for The Magic Pill Immortality 820 Researchers are searching “Human life will be irre - A Division of SAGE versibly transformed.” for drugs that delay aging. VICE PRESIDENT AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Jayne Marks The Oldest Old 821 At Issue 822 Will U.S. life expectancy DIRECTOR, ONLINE PUBLISHING: Scientists are studying continue to rise for the rest Todd Baldwin lifestyle patterns that con - of the century? tribute to healthy aging. Copyright © 2011 CQ Press, a Division of SAGE. FOR FURTHER RESEARCH SAGE reserves all copyright and other rights herein, OUTLOOK unless pre vi ous ly spec i fied in writing. No part of this For More Information publication may be reproduced electronically or Many Unknowns 825 Organizations to contact. otherwise, without prior written permission. Un - 824 Some say the public au tho rized re pro duc tion or trans mis sion of SAGE copy - should be encouraged to 826 Bibliography right ed material is a violation of federal law car ry ing adopt healthy lifestyles. Selected sources used. civil fines of up to $100,000. CQ Press is a registered trademark of Congressional The Next Step Quarterly Inc. 827 Additional articles . SIDEBARS AND GRAPHICS CQ Researcher (ISSN 1056-2036) is printed on acid- Citing CQ Researcher free paper. Pub lished weekly, except: (May wk. 4) U.S. Life Expectancy 827 808 Sample bibliography formats. (July wks. 1, 2) (Aug. wks. 2, 3) (Nov. wk. 4) and Rose Steadily (Dec. wks. 4, 5), by CQ Press, a division of SAGE. Americans live 30 years Annual full-service subscriptions start at $803. For pric - longer than a century ago. ing, call 1-800-834-9020. To purchase a CQ Researcher report in print or electronic format (PDF), visit www. cqpress.com or call 866-427-7737. Single reports start at $15. Bulk purchase discounts and electronic-rights licensing are also available. Pe ri od i cals post age paid at Wash ing ton, D.C., and ad di tion al mailing of fic es. POST MAST ER: Send ad dress chang es to CQ Re search - er , 2300 N St., N.W., Suite 800, Wash ing ton, DC 20037. Cover: AFP/Getty Images/Robert Sullivan 806 CQ Researcher Prolonging Life BY BETH BAKER a professor of cell biology THE ISSUES at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. dith Furstenberg lives “The molecular biology revo - in her own apartment lution that started in the 1970s E in a Baltimore retire - is realizing its potential now. ment community. She has to The tools that we have and use a walker now, but over - the pace at which things are all she is healthy and feels being discovered are explod - positive about life at her age. ing. It’s mind-boggling.” She’s 103. Scientists are delving into “The good things are that the changes that occur at the you can still enjoy life, and cellular and molecular level as like food, and like to meet people age. Researchers have people,” she says. “I have discovered that dozens of gene enough money to not worry mutations may be associated about my next meal or where with longevity, and they are I’m going to sleep.” testing new compounds for Centenarians like Fursten - their effects on aging and dis - berg are now the fastest- eases of the elderly. growing age group in the Many researchers share the United States. By 2050 the goal of “compressed morbid - l l United States will have an e ity” — keeping people healthy h c estimated 1.1 million cente - t until a ripe old age, when i M narians, up from just 50,000 they would die painlessly . J 1 f in 2000. f and quickly. Reaching that e J Not all will be doing as / goal, though, is extremely s e well as Furstenberg. g difficult. Researchers at the a m Dorothy Barnthouse, for I University of Southern Cali - y t example, celebrated her 100th t fornia found that as life ex - e birthday in June in the Kansas G pectancy continues to rise, nursing home where she has Century-old Fauja Singh, an Indian-born Sikh, is the the length of time that older lived for seven years. Ex - first runner to officially enter next year’s Edinburgh people are sick or disabled Marathon. With seven 26-mile marathons under his belt tremely frail, her memory all since his 89th birthday, he says it will be his last. In the increases. In fact, the average but gone, she has no diag - United States, where life expectancy has been steadily number of healthy years has nosable disease and takes no rising, more than 1 million people are expected to be actually decreased since 1998, medication, says her daughter, at least 100 years old by 2050 — up from just they found. 2 Anne Baber. 50,000 centenarians in 2000. The answers to basic But her mother is nearly questions about aging are deaf and has no friends. “I think it’s a Meanwhile, gerontologists, bioethi - not fully understood. Why do people horrible life,” says Baber, who regular - cists and demographers are wonder - age, and can the process be manipu - ly visits. ing how successful scientists will be lated? What is the role of genes in The expected growth in centenar - and whether having millions more aging? Will average life expectancy con - ians is part of a continuing, dramatic very old people benefits either indi - tinue to grow? Can the maximum increase in the number of elderly viduals or society. human lifespan — now about 120 — Americans. Yet even as politicians The biology of aging — biogeron - be significantly increased? and policymakers worry about their tology — was once a backwater of The questions are not just theo - impact on Social Security and Medicare research, but today it’s hot. “This is retical. Understanding the basic costs, many researchers hope to ex - the amazing golden age of biology,” mechanisms of aging is fundamental pand the ranks of centenarians even comparable to Einstein’s golden age to determining if older people’s vul - more significantly. of physics, says Woodring E. Wright, nerability to age-related diseases — www.cqresearcher.com Sept. 30, 2011 807 PROLONGING LIFE enjoying life at 103, while most die U.S. Life Expectancy Rose Steadily closer to 80? Americans born today can expect to live to 78 — nearly 30 years “There’s not a clearly identified sin - longer than a century ago. Scientists attribute the increase largely to gle mechanism that underlies or me - diates aging,” says Richard J. Hodes, medical advances and improved access to public health measures. director of the National Institute on Life expectancy for females is five years longer than males’.