Interesting table on female life expectancies according to age achieved. Very small differences in ages greater than 50 years, which is surprising considering that most in this age range today are probably taking some medication on a regular basis aimed at increasing their life expectancy.
As for those at the 'extreme' end...in 1881 having reached 100 years, the 'old bird' could expect a further 1.37 years of life, in 2005, the 'old bird', most likely to be in residential care with 24 hour medical care, can expect a further 2.74 years.
The bulk of gains in life expectancy have come from public health measures in the form of infrastructure for sewage, clean water, removal of slums, garbage collections and social security payments, more so than medical science. This is not to say that medical science has not achieved great strides forward in areas such as surgery and some life-saving medications such as those used to fight infections, insulin for diabetics, meds and other therapies used for cystic fibrosis and so forth.
