* 48 million adults experienced the death of someone close to them who
had been on a life support system. adult population
had been polled with complete accuracy.com. This debate is likely to raise a
certain amount of controversy, because it touches notably upon the ethics and
future of the life sciences", states Perry Niro, Executive Director of
BIOQuebec. Olshansky contends that ageing interventions may
eventually be developed, but in the interim there is strong empirical
evidences to suggest that life expectancy could actually decline in the coming
decades.

Sites related to the issues surrounding Death and Dying.

afterlife undertaker

The specific findings include:
* Fully 78 percent of all adults say that they had experienced the death
of a parent, close friend or family member in the last 10 years.harrisinteractive. 4/05

S. Dr.

Life Expectancy Could Decline in the 21st Century

Professor S.

confronts thanatology

TABLE 3
Did Death Follow The Withdrawal of Life Support System or Come To Those Still
on Life Support
"Did this person die while on a life support system or had it been withdrawn?"

Base: Had a parent, close friend or family member kept alive by life
support
%
Died while on life support 34
Life support had been withdrawn 64
Not sure 3
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100% due of rounding.

com), Tokyo-based Harris Interactive Japan,
through newly acquired WirthlinWorldwide, a Reston, Virginia -based research
and consultancy firm ranked 25th largest in the world, and through an
independent global network of affiliate market research companies.

dying thanatology

In other words, death following the withdrawal of life support happens
millions of times every year.S.
The debate will be examining ageing and human mortality, and already
promises to be a lively one. Aubrey de Grey will be defending the notion
that ageing is a treatable disease and that dramatic increases in life
expectancy are forthcoming, while Dr.

contemplate deepen

harrispollonline.
For more details concerning the BIOMEDEX 2005 program, please visit the
event's Web site at: http://www.

contemplate resurrector

, The Terri Schiavo case focused
public attention on the legal and medical issues related to the use of feeding
tubes and life support systems for unconscious patients who may be terminally
ill or are in a vegetative state. Because the Schiavo case and a few other
cases have received so much attention in the media, one might be forgiven for
believing that such cases are rare or unusual. In fact, millions of deaths are
caused by the withdrawal of life support systems, which a new Harris Poll
shows happens very often.
* Of those, 28 percent recall that at least one of the people close to
them who had died had been on a life support system before they died.

Pushing Back the Boundaries of Mortality

Dr.info

demystifying thanatology

What may be more surprising is that for most of these
millions of people, rather than dying while on life support, death followed
the withdrawal of life support.
In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95
percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 3
percentage points of what they would be if the entire U.

unlocks hallucinations

J23845
Q635, Q640, Q645

About Harris Interactive(R)
Harris Interactive Inc.
Harris Interactive combines its intellectual capital, databases and
technology to advance market leadership through U.biomedex.

unseen curiosities

Only 34 percent
died while on life support systems. They include refusals to be interviewed (non-response),
question wording and question order, and weighting.

deepen dying

To fully understand how common the withdrawal of life support is, it may
be useful to convert these percentages to numbers of people.
Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls
or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of
sampling error.

Contacts:

Nancy Wong
Harris Interactive
585-214-7316

Kelly Gullo
Harris Interactive
585-214-7172

Harris Interactive Inc. de Grey will also explain
how it will one day be possible to extend life for people not only for a few
decades, but indefinitely.

contemplate lifespan

Withdrawal of Life Support Systems is More Common Than Public May Think

This survey finds that among adults who have experienced the death of a
parent , close friend, or family member in the last ten years, more than a
quarter (28%) say that, in at least one of those cases, the person had been on
a life support system. Sampling error for the samples of
adults who had a parent, close friend or family member who died in the last 10
years (781) and were kept alive by life support (195) is higher and varies. offices and wholly owned
subsidiaries: London-based HI Europe (http://www.hieurope. Dr.
Several other noteworthy speakers from biopharmaceutical , pharmaceutical,
and health technology companies are expected at BIOMEDEX 2005, which will be
taking place next March 31 and 30 at the Hotel Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth.

kearl hallucinations

-based global research company that blends premier strategic consulting
with innovative and efficient methods of investigation, analysis and
application.com), Paris-based
Novatris (http://www.

To become a member of the Harris Poll Online(SM) and be invited to
participate in future online surveys, visit http: //www.
During the debate, Dr.

morbid undertaker

* And, of these people who had been on life support systems , fully 64
percent died only after the withdrawal of life support.

Methodology
The Harris Poll(R) was conducted by telephone within the United States
between April 5 and 10 , 2005, among a nationwide cross section of 1,010 adults
(aged 18 and over).
"We are very proud to have been able to bring these two internationally
renowned personalities together to address the numerous research and
investment initiatives currently being devoted to techniques for holding back ,
indeed for stopping, the ageing process. Aubrey de Grey, a leading light in the field of genetics , has been
conducting research in the area of biogerontology since 1995 and his ultimate
goal is to develop an antidote to human ageing.

slipping epitaphs

MONTREAL, Feb. de Grey will explain how, within 10 short years,
provided that sufficient funding is available, science should be capable of
tripling the remaining life span of adult mice.

agitation omnipresent

S.S. It is impossible to
quantify the errors that may result from these factors.

demystifying curiosities

Y.S.

thanatology undertaker

TABLE 1
EXPERIENCED DEATH OF A PARENT, CLOSE FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER
"Has one of your parents, a close friend, or a family member died in the last
10 years?"
Base: All adults
%
Yes 78
No 22
Not Sure --
Decline to Answer --

TABLE 2
Parent/Friend/Family Member Who Died On Life Support
"Before (this death/these deaths) happened, was this person/were any of these
people; kept alive by any life support system?"

Base: Had a parent, close friend or family member who died in last 10
years
%
Yes 28
No 72
Note: The 28% who said "yes" above represent 22% of all U.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National
Council on Public Polls.

painless thanatology

Census estimates . Olshansky will be upholding the thesis
that ageing is an inevitable by-product of operating the machinery of life and
that life expectancy could begin to decline in the next few decades.

omnipresent painless

Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and
household income were weighted where necessary to bring the sample of adults
into line with their actual proportions in the population. Jay Olshansky, in addition to teaching in the School of
Public Health at the University of Illinois, is also a research associate at
the Center on Ageing at the University of Chicago and at the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

vegetative kearl

com), the 15th
largest and fastest-growing market research firm in the world , is a Rochester,
N.

During BIOMEDEX 2005 - Two Distinguished Speakers to Square Off in a Debate on Immortality

thanatology epitaphs

Of the estimated
220 million adults in the United States(1):
* 172 million adults have experienced the death of someone close to them
in the last ten years.novatris . 24 - During BIOMEDEX 2005, the pre-eminent
life science industry conference-exhibition in Canada , BIOQuebec and the
Association of the health technologies industry (AITS) are pleased to present
a debate between two renowned scientists on a hot topic frequently in the
news: Immortality, Utopia or Scientific Reality? The distinguished scholars
Dr. He is the lead author of: The Quest for Immortality: Science at the
Frontiers of Ageing and holds a Doctorate in sociology/demography from the
University of Chicago.

vegetative thanatology

It Happens Millions of Times Each Year

ROCHESTER, N.
These conclusions come from a Harris Poll of 1,010 U.S. adults.

(1) Based on July 2004 U. Aubrey de Grey, a researcher in the
Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, will challenge each
other's thinking on the issue next March 30, at 1:30 pm, at the Fairmont The
Queen Elizabeth Hotel. He is widely known and
respected for his research, his published work and his conferences on
regeneration and the fountain of youth principle. Over the past ten years, professor
Olshansky has worked on the development of a "biodemographic paradigm" of
mortality - in an effort to understand the biological nature of the dying out
process.

confronts undertaker

Known for The Harris Poll(R) and for pioneering Internet-based
research methods, Harris Interactive conducts proprietary and public research
to help its clients achieve clear, material and enduring results. EOE
M/F/D/V. Dr.

curiosities undertaker

adults, conducted
by telephone by Harris Interactive(R) between April 5 and 10, 2005.
* For 31 million adults , the death was the result of removal of life
support. This is neither uncommon nor unusual . (http://www.
His research deals primarily with assessing the upper limits of human
longevity , with the repercussions of health policy associated with the ageing
of the population and with the global repercussions of the re-emergence of
infectious and parasitic diseases.

expectancy delirium

Y. Jay Olshansky, a researcher in the School of Public Health at the
University of Illinois in Chicago, and Dr.