Increased life span may up economic woes

Anti-aging technologies may extend human life spans, but living longer may bring social and economic challenges, says a California researcher.

Biologist Shripad Tuljapurkar of Stanford University said the combined impact of these medical advances would have major implications for the global community in the new century.

Tuljapurkar estimated that between 2010 and 2030, the modal, or most common, age of death will increase by 20 years from roughly age 80 to 100 if anti-aging therapies come into widespread use.

"It's staggering to think about the fiscal effects of this," he said. "One thing that happens right away, which nobody seems to have thought of, is that the total global population increases dramatically ... from 8 billion we end up topping out at 10 to 11 billion."

Tuljapurkar, the dean and Virginia Morrison Professor of Population Studies, will present his findings at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in St. Louis.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International