WASHINGTON: Human lifespans may be limited to a maximum of 125 years, according to a new study which found that it may not be possible for us to live beyond the ages already attained by the oldest people on record.
Since the 19th century, average life expectancy has risen almost continuously thanks to improvements in public health, diet, the environment and other areas, researchers said.
However, according to researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the US, this upward arc for maximal lifespan has a ceiling – and we have already touched it.
“Demographers as well as biologists have contended there is no reason to think that the ongoing increase in maximum lifespan will end soon,” said Jan Vijg, professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
“But our data strongly suggests that it has already been attained and that this happened in the 1990s,” he said.
Researchers analysed data from the Human Mortality Database, which compiles mortality and population data from more than 40 countries.
Since 1900, those countries generally show a decline in late-life mortality: The fraction of each birth cohort (ie people born in a particular year) who survive to old age (defined as 70 and up) increased with their calendar year of birth, pointing towards a continuing increase in average life expectancy.
However, when researchers looked at survival improvements since 1900 for people aged 100 and above, they found that gains in survival peaked at around 100 and then declined rapidly, regardless of the year people were born.
“This finding indicates diminishing gains in reducing late-life mortality and a possible limit to human lifespan,” said Vijg. (AGENCIES)
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