The Bitter End, by Guy Brown.

Until about 200 years ago, the average human lifespan was about 30 years. People died young and they died relatively rapidly, mainly from infections. During the 20th century the average lifespan in developed countries doubled and people in developed countries now tend to die old and slowly from degenerative diseases brought on by ageing.

Average lifespan has been increasing by 2.2 years per decade for the last 100 years.

In the U.K for example, if curent trends persist, the number of people more than 65 years old is predicted to triple from 4.6 million to 15.5 million in 2074, while the population aged over 100 will increase 100 fold from 10000 to 1 million.

Older people also decline physically. They are more prone to chronic diseases such as arthritis and rheumatism, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and heart failure, diabetes, varicose veins, ulcers and strokes. They are much more likely to have disabilities such as deafness, blindness and immobility.

"Death, dying and dementia are nowhere on the political agenda"