Actuarially speaking: an overview of life expectancy. What can we anticipate?

A review of life expectancies of males in 1905, 1955, and 2005 reveals several striking findings. Life expectancies at birth have increased progressively during this 100-y period. For a man graduating in 1905, life expectancy at graduation was actually greater than that at birth. Blacks living into their 70s at that time subsequently had life expectancies that were actually greater than those of their white classmates. The present trend of progressively lengthening life span in all groups reflects the changing pattern of causes of death from formerly untreatable infectious diseases to chronic degenerative disorders. Predictions for the continuing lengthening of the life span of the class of 2005 and succeeding classes may be jeopardized by the alarming increase in obesity, which worsens the incidence of cardiovascular disorders and cancer, the 2 leading causes of death at this time, as well as of diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, and other categories of disease.