抄録
According to the World Health Statistics 2016, the country with the longest longevity in the world is Japan, where average life expectancy at birth (ALEB) was 83.70-years old. This is supported by the World Fact Book 2016, in which the ALEB of Japanese people is 85.00-years old. That is the second longest in the world, following 89.50-years old in Monaco. Considering the population of Japan is more than four thousand times than that of Monaco, the ALEB of Japanese people is undoubtedly ranked at the top of the world. Immediately after the Second World War, the ALEB of Japanese people was low as compared with the international communities. It is assumed that the sharp decline in mortality rate is due to the rapid progress in advanced medicine, supported by the post-war economic growth, contributing to the steady increase of ALEB. In 2000, Tuljapurkar forecasted the future life expectancy of the G7 countries, suggesting that the ALEB of Japanese people may extend beyond the conventional predictions. According to the estimates, the ALEB of Japanese people will be 86.01-years old in 2020 and 90.91-years old in 2050. In any case, if such a trend continues, there is concern that the medical expenses will increase due to the healthcare demands of the elderly population. In this special feature, we are going to introduce the front line of “functional peptides that contribute to healthy longevity” and propose ways to stay healthy and live longer. All chapters are based on scientific evidence accumulated by each author and very exciting content is presented. We will be very pleased if all the reviews posted here are useful to readers interested in this research field.
