A method of summarising collective health within a group by calculating the average time members are expected to remain alive. Most used at the country level where the statistic is how long a newborn child is expected to live if current rates of death remain constant.
Questions tagged [life-expectancy]
35 questions
31
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Are there more than 50,000 people in Japan over 100 years old?
I recently read this article and although majority of the items are believable, #5 is really shocking.
Is it true that there are more than 50,000 alive people in Japan already over 100?

Zaenille
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Did people in ancient times, who survived childhood and were not killed in wars, have roughly the same chance to reach old age as contemporary people?
During an academic course on the history of biology there was a lecture dedicated to ancient Greek philosophers. I noticed that surprisingly many of these philosophers reached age considered advanced even nowadays: 80 years, 90 years and more. I…

gaazkam
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Is the average life expectancy of a pornographic actor significantly lower than the rest of the population?
The Pink Cross Foundation, an anti-porn organisation, which seems to use this analysis by Rev. Daniel R. Jennings as a reference, calculated the average life expectancy of a porn performer as being 36.2 years, as compared to that of an American at…

akbox
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Was the world life expectancy only 30 years at 1900?
In this article, About.com article on Life Expectancy they claim:
In 1900, the world life expectancy was approximately 30 years
I've also the same claim elsewhere.
However, this doesn't jibe with informal data-gathering I have done:
An arbitary…

Samuelson
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Do married people live longer than single people?
It is a common belief that married people live longer than single people.
For example, The Telegraph reports:
Men and women who are married or in long-term relationships are more likely to survive to old age than singletons, research suggests
So…
user11212
20
votes
2 answers
Has anybody overdosed on marijuana and died?
I'm sure we've all heard the saying you can't overdose (and die) on marijuana. Is this true? Have people died from smoking marijuana?
Some notable claims (out of thousands)
Leaf Science
In fact, studies suggest it is impossible to die from smoking…

mateos
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Will eating a lot of junk food shorten your life expectancy?
I just ate an entire medium pepperoni pizza for dinner and my roommate started lecturing me on how I'm gonna die in my 30s.
Does eating fatty and sugary foods make your life any shorter?
user1844
19
votes
2 answers
Is life expectancy of an Amish person same as average in US?
Amish website claims:
What is the average life expectancy of Amish men and women and what is
the number one cause of death in the Amish communities?
It is the same
as for all persons in the United States, no different than for other
groups of…

sashkello
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Is the average lifespan of a trans woman 30-32 years?
A popular post on Tumblr (over 150,000 notes) makes the claim that:
yall realize the average lifespan for a trans woman is 30-32 years.. and that is largely because of hate crimes resulting in murder..
Is this claim true?

Phoenix
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Was 17 the average life expectancy in Liverpool in the 1850s?
DK History of Britain and Ireland: The Definitive Visual Guide (2011) claims:
17 The average life expectancy in years in Liverpool during the 1850s. High infant mortality depressed the figure, as did the city’s unhealthy cellar dwellings and an…
user62611
15
votes
2 answers
Do homosexuals have a shorter life expectancy than heterosexuals?
I've heard a few people claim this. Have any reputable studies concluded that homosexuals live, on average, significantly shorter than heterosexuals?

Joel
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13
votes
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Do police officers and firefighters have a shorter than average life expectancy?
I have run across several references that mention that police officers and firefighters have a much shorter life expectancy than average. Is this claim true? Are there any reputable studies that have been done on this topic?

jrdioko
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Is this graph of life expectancy pre and post Chernobyl accurate?
Is the following graph of male life expectancy of ex-Soviet states spanning Chernobyl accurate?
The source of the graph is a blog post (チェルノブイリ事故後の平均寿命), which according to google translate means "Life expectancy after the Chernobyl…

Andrew Grimm
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Does this dog food double the lifespan of dogs?
Burt Ward -- 'Robin' from the 1960s Batman TV series -- has started a dog food company.
In a recent promotional article, he claimed:
"We've made a food where we have doubled and tripled the lifespan of dogs; we have dogs living 27 healthy active…

Roger
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Does flossing your teeth regularly increase your lifespan?
According to Life Tips:
Regular flossing, long considered an essential part of daily dental
cleansing, has been found to have a positive effect on your life
expectancy, increasing it by up to 6 years.
Is this true? How would flossing increase…

dukevin
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