Contents

AN EXPLOSION OF LIFE

1 THE RHYTHM OF LIFE

An accumulation of damage

All for the next generation

Rites of passage

2ETERNAL LIFE

Damage and repair

Longevity in families

3WHY WE AGE

Ageing is not necessary

The ‘disposable soma’

The cost of sex

Aristocratic fruit flies

4ASSESSORS OF THE FINITE

Insurance premium levels

The impotence of prediction

5SURVIVING IN HARSH CONDITIONS

An extraordinary find in Chad

The Gold Coast of Africa

Resistance to infectious disease

The benefit of grandmothers

6OUR INCREASED LIFE EXPECTANCY

What we used to die of

The new killers

A revolution in medical technology

An extra weekend every week

7LEGIONS OF THE OLD

The gravedigger

From pyramid to skyscraper

Young and old-age dependency ratios

8AGEING IS A DISEASE

What causes cancer?

Normal ageing does not exist

The dementia epidemic

Frailty

9THE BIOLOGY OF AGEING

Accelerated ageing

Oxygen radicals

Insulin and growth hormone

Should we eat less?

10LONG MAY WE LIVE

More years of illness

More years without impairment

The ragged end

11THE QUALITY OF OUR EXISTENCE

What is healthy?

The Leiden 85-plus study

A rating for life

12VITALITY

The new ‘ages of man and woman’

Optimism and zest for life

Grey is not black and white

13THE NEW LIFE TRAJECTORY

75 is the new 65

Who is responsible for what?

A birthday rhyme

A PRESCRIPTION FOR THE FUTURE

Acknowledgements

Further Reading