
Jeanne Louise Calment in 1895, at the age of 20
A new study from researchers informs us that the limit for human lifespan is one hundred fifteen years. According to scientists, it is less likely that a person will live to be one hundred and fifty. However, life expectancy is currently increasing. So what’s in store for us?
The new research was conducted by specialists at the Einstein College of Medicine in New York. The team of researchers analyzed information on human lifespan in recent years around the world. In other words, they were interested in how much people live.
The findings show that there are cases of people who live to be one hundred years old. However, the research points out that people don’t live much longer after reaching this benchmark.
The oldest person who ever lived is Jeanne Louise Calment. The French woman died at the age of 122. She was born in 1875 and died in 1997. When she was 113, she was declared the person with the longest life ever recorded.
During the nineteenth century, life expectancy experienced improvements, as several reports show it. The process happened thanks to the development of medicine. Vaccines, medical care for pregnant women and the discovery of cures for several illnesses reduced the risk of mortality and premature death.
The scientists in New York also based their research on the analyses of the deaths of people who died when they were more than one hundred and ten years old. The countries where these cases were reported are The United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and France.
What the researchers observed is that when reaching one hundred and five years of age, people start to show signs that they are close to the end of the line. This tendency has been going on for two decades now, as the researchers stress. Their conclusion is that human lifespan hasn’t improved ever since.
The study from the Einstein College of Medicine shows what is currently going on. However, they cannot predict what will happen in the future. Their calculations and the limit of one hundred fifteen years are based on facts and numbers from the past.
There are also researchers who believe that setting a limit for the human lifespan is not much of a scientific fact. Previous studies claimed that this limit was about 60 or 80 or 100. However, time proved that these limits are not set in stone.
Image courtesy of: Wikipedia