Giaimo S. Grace period of human mortality has declined for over a century.
Am J Hum Biol 2024:e24117. [PMID:
38881494 DOI:
10.1002/ajhb.24117]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2023] [Revised: 05/31/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/18/2024] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Human mortality is U-shaped and, therefore, defines an agex * $$ {x}^{\ast } $$ separating lives with an overall negative net change in mortality from lives with an overall positive net change in mortality. How has agex * $$ {x}^{\ast } $$ changed, also relatively to life expectancy, over recent human history? And how doesx * $$ {x}^{\ast } $$ compare between humans and other primates, the mortality of which is also U-shaped?
METHODS
Modeling data from the Human Mortality Database, the historical change ofx * $$ {x}^{\ast } $$ in advanced economies is reported and compared with that of primates in wild and captive conditions the demography of which was already modeled in the literature.
RESULTS
In humans, a marked decline inx * $$ {x}^{\ast } $$ for both sexes, also relatively to their life expectancy, is associated with medical and economic progress. Comparing wild with captive conditions in nonhuman primates, magnitude, and direction of the change inx * $$ {x}^{\ast } $$ , both relatively to life expectancy and absolutely, can depend on genus and sex.
CONCLUSIONS
With medical and economic progress, human lives have transitioned from a negative to a positive net change in mortality independently of sex. There is no evidence of an analogous transition occurring in other primates when their environment is made more benign.
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