Number of 100-year-olds in Germany is rising massively

More and more people are turning 100 or older

21/01/2013

The life expectancy of the population in Germany is increasing rapidly. A demographic study by researchers at the University of Rostock shows an unexpectedly rapid increase in the number of 100-year-olds. The research team led by Professor Roland Rau attributes this increase in life expectancy to the "rapidly declining mortality from the age of 80".

From the age of 100, scientists today speak of "peak age," which may change in the future. Because such a life expectancy according to the results of the current study according to today born is nothing unusual. "We have model calculations that say that not only a multitude of newborns today will experience the next century, but half of them can expect to live to be 100," says Professor Rau in a recent press release.

Mortality of over 80-year-olds has been halved
According to the results of the demography researchers, "Since 1960, the mortality of 80-year-olds has more than halved in many countries since 1960." In concrete terms, 50 years ago eleven out of 100 eighty-year-old women died before their 81st birthday. just four. "Scientists attribute a key role to rising life expectancy to the" cardiovascular revolution ". According to Professor Rau, doctors today are better able to treat heart disease (eg coronary heart disease) and blood vessels (eg arteriosclerosis) better in many ways. The number of deaths from a heart attack or stroke is correspondingly lower. Also, the "knowledge of their own health" in the population has increased. For the life expectancy of the individual, the individual lifestyle continues to play a decisive role. All in all, let's say that the Germans are getting their age as never before and that "there is no end in sight," emphasized Professor Rau.

Aging processes are always starting later
The observed trend of ever-increasing life expectancy also "leads to the aging process starting later," reported the Rostock scientists. If mortality is used as the ultimate health indicator, women over the age of 86 today have the health of an 80-year-old woman 50 years ago, explained Prof. Rau. According to the researchers, the highest annual life expectancy in the world has been rising by 2.5 years or just under six hours a day for "more than 160 years every decade." This trend has also been followed by the Federal Republic since the 1950s. Since reunification, there has also been an alignment of life expectancy in East and West Germany.

Alignment of life expectancy in western and eastern Germany
While the researchers still recorded a clear gap in the life expectancy of West German to East German women around 1990 (79 years West Germany, 76 years East Germany), since 2005 women have been at roughly the same level nationwide. Today, an all-German average of 82.5 years measured, report Professor Rau and colleagues. The interesting question is why the life expectancy among East German women has increased correspondingly faster since 1990 than in West Germany. Here, science pursues "two main hypotheses: It's up to the money to eat healthier and (or) to the medicine." In order to maximize personal life expectancy, recommends Professor Rau: "Do what mother has always been advised: eat healthy, do not drink too much alcohol and do not smoke, do sports, keep yourself mentally fit. "However, the big jumps in life expectancy are not due to such measures, but to" the enormous advances in medicine " the conclusion of the Rostock demography researcher. (Fp)

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Image: Dieter Schütz