AGING AND DEATH - IDEAS REFLECTING STATIS TICAL FIGURES

Aging and death of man have changed decisively during the last centuri es. Today, three age-dependent mortalities can be distinguished: the m ortalities in the early years of life, those caused by external forces , and the rest of mortality. The logarithm of the rest of mortality is , starting with the 20th year of life, relatively strictly correlated to age. Only this age-dependent mortality can be regarded as a ''natur al'' mortality. It is however enabled only by a culturally and technic ally extremely favorable environment. The slope of the age-dependent m ortality is relatively stable geographically and in the course of time , and is nearly equal for both sexes. Of various diseases, their relat ive mortalities (expressed in percent of total mortality) indicates an age-specific susceptibility for the causes of death, with high percen tages either in youth, in midlife or in high age. The mortality of all cancers was relatively stable during the last decades, whereas the sp ecific mortalities of different cancer sites varied to a much higher d egree (''vicarious mortality''). Death is programmed relatively rigidl y, as far as it is not related to violence (accidents, poisoning, murd er). Perhaps the genetical determination is prevailing. The slope of t he programmed part of mortality of woman changes in its steepness afte r the age of 60, with an increasing rate of mortality.