LIFE EXPECTANCY AND MORTALITY RATES IN POLAND AND GERMANY - A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

In the modern world a prolongation of the duration of human life can be observed, especially in highly developed countries. It is the result of medical progress and the improvement of the quality of life. At the same time, there are large disparities in the mortality rates of the population in relation to women and men, as well as age. The causes of the mortality are the emergence of new diseases of the modern civilization, as well as the change of lifestyle and nutrition influenced by modern technologies and products. This paper is an interdisciplinary article and contains both strictly demographic and medical information. The paper presents selected aspects of the demographic situation in Poland and Germany. An important element of the research was to show the causes of mortality, i.e. diseases of the modern civilization and the possibilities of their prevention. The research results show that while the general life expectancy of the population in both Germany and Poland is extended, the mortality rate is particularly alarming in the younger age groups due to the incidence of modern civilization diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases.