A typical interdisciplinary topic: questions of the mortality dynamics

Dynamic characteristics of mortality experience are intensely studied in demography and in experimental gerontology. The classic Gompertz-Makeham function is also a significant starting point of numerous investigations in this topic. By comparative analysis of human vital statistics, one can observe characteristic secular and topological variations of the Gompertz parameters. Some of these findings are reviewed briefly in the article. Some other related questions are also touched upon. For example, the concept of the maximum life span is criticised. A thorough overview of literature data makes it clear that the general male mortality excess is by far not so unambiguous as is widely supposed. Surprisingly simple stochastic models, published by one of us in the recent past, can serve as theoretical background for the Gompertz law. Further studies would be necessary to check the biological relevance of these models.