Ageing and human performance

Abstract

It is only during the past three hundred years or so, and especially during the present century, that significant numbers of people have survived to the age of 65 and beyond. Up to the 17th century, probably about one in every 100 persons did so in Western Europe, and by the 19th century roughly one person in 25 reached this age. Currently, in the United Kingdom, around 10 million people are aged 65 and over, approximately onesixth of the total population. Since the life expectancy at birth of women tends to be greater than that of men (currently in the UK by almost five years), the majority of elderly people are women, particularly in the population aged 75 and over. Among 80-year-olds in the UK, for example, women outnumber men by 4:1, whereas among 40-year-olds the sex ratio is approximately equal. The growth in the numbers of individuals aged 65 and over relative to the remainder of the population is expected to continue well into the 21st century.

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