Historical Stability of the Human Aging Rate and Its Decline in Our Time

Abstract It was found that changes in the mortality rate with age, minus the background constant of the Gompertz–Makeham formula, the increment in the mortality rate, as well as the exponential coefficient of this formula, reflect the actual rate of human aging. Using age-related mortality data for 40 countries, it is shown that the rate of aging does not change significantly over history and is almost the same for different countries from the mid-18th to the mid-20th century. It was noted that its linear growth persists (on a logarithmic scale), starting from the end of the period of development and growth of the body until the age of centenarians, when the speed of aging is reduced (due to the inherited longevity of the population). However, since the mid-20th century for the first time in history, slowing of the rate of aging in all parameters, including maximum life span, which is apparently associated with pronounced success in the economy and in health and social care, has been noted.