Mortality is not a simple case of dying. It is a complex end product of interactions between phenotype and environment, which is modulated by the behaviour of the individual, the group and the population.

The most amenable area for intervention is both the environment and behaviour.

But remember. Once you remove the present causes of mortality. New (or old) causes will emerge (or re-emerge) to continue being cited as the “cause” of death.

One thing is certain, we will all die, of something. The crucial point seems to be ho to achieve as long and disease and disability-free life as is feasible, with as short a decline and death at the end of life as possible for as many people as possible.

Death has no cure.