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When you’re next in London, stop by Westminster Abbey and visit the tomb of Old Parr, who died in 1635 at the age of 152.
If you’re sceptical of that claim, so was William Harvey, the celebrated physician (he discovered the circulation of the blood) who conducted Tom Parr’s post-mortem. On the other hand, when I shared Parr’s story recently with a leading ageing researcher, she replied, “It could be true, you know; I wish I had some of his DNA.”
Slowing the ageing process is something that has long preoccupied humanity. But should it be a top priority for our scientists? Aubrey de Grey, the researcher and activist, likes to say things like: “Ageing is just like smoking: it’s really bad for you.” He wants it to receive the same focus we place on cancer and heart disease. But who exactly will benefit?
The rich have always lived longer, and evidence is mounting that the rich-poor divide is getting wider every year. According to one recent study, the wealthiest 1% of American men actually live 15 years longer than the poorest 1%. And the gap just grew by around 2.5 years at the top; at the bottom it barely shifted.
What’s more surprising is to find the same trend on this side of the Atlantic. The UK’s insurance industry’s Longevity Science Panel report that a boy born today in the top 20% will outlive one born in the bottom 20% by 8.4 years. That gap has widened 1.2 years since 2001. But the most startling recent study focused on literacy. The life expectancy gap between boys born in the least and most literate parts of the country is a staggering 26 years.
For the UK, with its commitment to universal free healthcare and focus on equity of social opportunity, these data suggest an embarrassing failure of policy and practice. Each year that passes marks a step further into inequality at the core, between who lives and who dies.
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