August 26, 2004 | News

New book series continues with "The Late Life Legacy of Very Early Life"

"The Late Life Legacy of Very Early Life" by Dr. Gabriele Doblhammer is the second volume of a new series of Demographic Research Monographs published by Springer Verlag under the editorial supervision of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research. The topic of the book is fascinating: Is a person's life span influenced by health and nutrition in-utero and shortly after birth? If so, why? The answers uncovered by the diligence, demographic, and statistical expertise are surprising but convincing, says Prof. James W. Vaupel, editor-in-Chief of the book series. To pry open the mystery of the lingering impact of very early life, Dr. Doblhammer focuses on the month of birth. It turns out that people born in some months live substantially longer on average than people born in other months, not because of astrological forces but for reasons of health and nutrition.