Sometimes, Biology is difficult. There are so many factors that are not understood, things that cannot be controlled and complex systems that are hard to predict that it is difficult to understand the full consequences of common things like food, diet, exercise and all the other complicating factors in health. However, one area that gets a lot of interest is the area of predicting how long a person will live. This is obviously important in financial planning not only for individuals but also for countries managing their population. There are other consequences to insurance companies who would like to be sure that their prediction on a person is statistically close to the population. If too many of their insurers start filing claims then it becomes difficult to manage the insurance company.
However, it is surprising to see how many people are making a claim to understanding longevity. There are others that are seeking solutions.
See this problem: “Novel Approaches for Predicting Individual Life Expectancy” on the link below, or search for this problem.
Now, is it possible to combine data and do this reasonably for a population – probably, yes. But, doing it for any one particular individual may be difficult. For example, if you know that the individual smokes then the insurance company may slash X years off their life…but how do you quantitate whether the person is “angry” or “calm”.. Are those factors correlated with longevity? Does the individual have gene X that makes him prone to obesity.. how does that factor in to his longevity ? Complex factors but there is significant incentive to figure it out. If you think you know the answer then go to the website and enter the challenge for some money.