Family Patterns of Mortality and Life Span

Abstract

Although there has long been an idea that heredity plays an important role in the determination of life span, this concept has been "more taken for granted than supported by exact scientific investigation." Since one cannot extrapolate directly from experimental organisms to man nor carry out studies of a similar nature in man, it is necessary to use the direct epidemiological approach, determining 1st of all whether the observed differences in mortality follow family patterns. Some of the very early, more recently published, and current family studies of life span are summarized and reviewed critically. Two studies of patterns of mortality and aging have been initiated at Johns Hopkins University. The major investigation is a Community-Based Population Study comparing the mortality experience of corresponding relatives of a sample of deaths which occurred in Baltimore in 1960 and of living matched controls, in order to determine whether three are family patterns of mortality and, if so, their nature in respect to age at death and causes of death. The 2nd and smaller investagation, designed to identify in living subjects possible indicators of family patterns of mortality, involves a special group of 500 living males who are participating in a longitudinal study of aging. Some preliminary findings of the Community-Based Population Investigation and the Special Group Study are presented. It is concluded that at present, despite all the recorded information and presumptive evidence, the problem of the genetic aspects of mortality and life span remains to be resolved. Large, collaborative projects both for retrospective family data analysis and for longitudinal follow-up of subjects are recommended for future study.