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Biomedical subjects

V Kannisto

Publications and source records attributed to V Kannisto.

11 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Measuring the compression of mortality.

Compression of mortality is measured here in four ways: 1) by standard deviation of the age at death above the mode; 2) by standard deviation of the age at death in the highest quartile; 3) by the inter-quartile range; and 4) by the shortest age interval in which a given proportion of deaths take place. The two first-mentioned are directed at old ages, while the other two measure compression over the entire age range. The fourth alternative is recommended as the most suitable for general use and offers several variations, called the C-family of compression indicators. Applied to historical and modern populations, all four measures show convincingly that the secular transition from high to low mortality has been accompanied by general and massive compression of mortality. In recent decades, however, this development has come close to stagnation even when life expectancy continues to increase. This has happened at a level where compression is still so incomplete that the shortest age interval in which 90% of deaths occur, is 35 years. It seems unrealistic to expect human mortality ever to be compressed into so narrow an age interval that the survival curve would even approximately rectangular. It is considered useful to monitor changes in the compression of mortality because the indicators describe relevant aspects of the length of life and may acquire new significance as indicators of population heterogeneity.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1998

Biodemographic trajectories of longevity.

Old-age survival has increased substantially since 1950. Death rates decelerate with age for insects, worms, and yeast, as well as humans. This evidence of extended postreproductive survival is puzzling. Three biodemographic insights--concerning the correlation of death rates across age, individual differences in survival chances, and induced alterations in age patterns of fertility and mortality--offer clues and suggest research on the failure of complicated systems, on new demographic equations for evolutionary theory, and on fertility-longevity interactions. Nongenetic changes account for increases in human life-spans to date. Explication of these causes and the genetic license for extended survival, as well as discovery of genes and other survival attributes affecting longevity, will lead to even longer lives.

Aging↗
PubMed1997

No increased mortality in later life for cohorts born during famine.

Nutrition early in life may influence adult mortality. The fetal-origins hypothesis suggests that nourishment before birth and during the individual's infancy programs the development of risk factors for several important diseases of middle and old age. The present study was designed to evaluate the impact of extreme nutritional deprivation in utero and during infancy and early childhood on mortality in later life. The authors analyzed the survival of the cohorts born in Finland during the severe 1866-1868 famine and during the 5 years immediately preceding and 5 years immediately following the famine. The study included 331,932 individuals born prior to the famine, 161,744 born during the famine, and 323,321 born after the famine. The authors assessed survival by cohorts from birth to age 17 years and from age 17 to 40, 60, and 80 years, as well as average length of life after age 80 years. Survival from birth to age 17 years was significantly lower in cohorts born before and during the famine than in the cohorts born after the famine (males, 0.566 vs. 0.671, a difference of 0.105 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.102-0.108); females, 0.593 vs. 0.692, a difference of 0.099 (95% CI 0.096-0.102)). At subsequent ages, including old age, mortality was practically identical in the famine-born cohorts and in the five cohorts born before and after the crisis. For both males and females, survival from 17 to 80 years and mean remaining lifetime at age 80 years were very similar across the 13 cohorts studied. These findings suggest that, although cohorts subjected to prolonged and extreme nutritional deprivation in utero and during infancy and early childhood suffer an immediate rise in mortality, after the crisis has passed, they carry no aftereffects that influence their survival in later life.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

[Geographical differences in the mortality of the elderly in Finland since the 1850s].

Mortality data for the elderly in Finland are compared for geographical differences between the east and the west. The author utilizes simulated data from 1853 to 1878 to evaluate mortality in the past and compare it to the present, which indicates high levels of male mortality from heart disease in eastern Finland. "The historical evidence is compatible with the view that the causes of the high premature mortality in Finland are to be found in diet and smoking and perhaps also in genetics." (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Adult↗
PubMed1988

[On regional differences in infant mortality].

Regional differences in infant mortality are examined using the examples of Finland and Portugal. The author concludes that no single model "can explain the dependence of infant mortality on social and economic variables in all countries nor necessarily at different periods in the same country." The continuing link between traditional social and religious values and higher levels of infant mortality in Portugal is noted. (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Behavior↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Frailty and survival.

Using data for selected developed countries, the factors affecting an individual's susceptibility to morbidity and mortality are analyzed. "On the basis of empirical data the author concludes that frailty is not unchangeable throughout a person's lifetime but subject to period effects,...which tend to overwhelm the genetic element.... Current external conditions...exert a pervasive influence on the frailty of an individual and the mortality of the population making them responsive to health-related policies and personal choice." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND ITA)

Behavior↗