Research in life course health inequalities suggested that patterns of change in health could result in increasing health differentials across social groups (high vs low educated, high vs low income, etc.) over time, resulting from a lack of equity in the social distribution of opportunities and resources. This theoretical framework is called the Cumulative Advantage and Disadvantage model (Dannefer 2003). The objectives of the current PhD-study are to examine (1) health trajectories and their factors of change, in general and in Switzerland, and (2) whether the Cumulative Advantage and Disadvantage model is supported by empirical studies. This manuscript is in the article format and contains four papers: one systematic review and three empirical papers using the data from the Swiss Household Panel and analyzing health trajectories with individual-level data. All studies are focusing on the general adult population.