How Long Can Humans Live?

Some experts agree that we have reached our maximum life span. But they claim that research and lifestyle choices could change. But how long can actually a human being live, let’s try to solve that mystery, or can we?

According to a study published earlier this month in Nature journal, people should not hope to live longer than 115 years. The authors analyzed human mortality rates from 40 countries. The results found that by the mid-1990s, “improvements in survival with age tend to decline after 100 years of age. The age at death of the oldest person in the world has not increased since the 1990s.” The results indicate that the human maximum life span has peaked at 115 years.

Age 15 years past the century mark doesn’t sound too bad. How have we not found our proverbial fountain of youth, even with advances in modern medicine?

How Long Can Humans Live?

People around the world are living longer. There have been clear ups and downs. But, average life expectancy at birth has been consistently rising for many years. It has more than doubled in the past two decades.

A decrease in infant mortality has previously driven this increase. However, since the 1950s, the main driver has been the decline in mortality at older ages. In Sweden, for example, the overall lifespan has risen by almost 150 years. Lifespans have risen in many other nations, including Western Europe, North America, and Japan.

This has led to a rapid rise in the number of very older people – people up to 100, 110, or more. The first verified supercentenarian (aged 110 and above) was Geert Adrians-Boomgaard. He died four months in 1899 at 110. Since then, his record has been broken by others.

The first verified female supercentenarian, Margaret Ann Neve, died in 1903 at the age of 110 years, 10 months. And she had a record for almost 23 years. Delina Filkins died at the age of 113 years, seven months, in 1928. She’s been keeping the record for just over 52 years.

The world record holder is the French woman Jeanne Calment, who died on 4 August 1997, at 122, five months. Despite the near exponential rise in the number of supercentenarians since the early 1970s, her record has held firm. But it is unlikely to last much longer.

Surviving past 100

While these upward trends in lifespan are common, they are not a given. The latest increases in Danish mortality after a time of stagnation also contributed to the suspicion that there may be a rise in the life span of 100 years. This is quite different from what has lately been found in Sweden. There has been some slowdown in the highest ages.

Scientists researched 16,931 centennials (10,955 Swedish and 5,976 Danes) born between 1870 and 1904 in Denmark and Sweden, neighboring countries with close cultural and historical relations, to see if their suspicions might be correct. Sweden generally has lower mortality rates than Denmark at most ages. But, no evidence of a rise has been found in Sweden in recent years.

In Denmark, however, it has been observed that the very oldest die at higher and higher ages.

Denmark and Sweden are similar in many respects, but these lifespan patterns are very different. The difference may be due to several reasons, which are not easy to explain. But researchers got a few ideas.

It’s all relative

Ironically, growing old is a very new humans live experience. Life expectancy has been about 40 years for thousands of years. Only in the last century did humans live continue to increase the length of their life

Today, the average man living in the United States is expected to live at about 76 years of age. For women, the number is around the age of 81.

If you have perfect genes, you’re one of the people who will live to 115, Guarente said. But hardly anyone’s genes are perfect. For those of us with defective genes, outside factors play an important role in deciding how long we live.

These factors can include whether we smoke, access to clean water, antibiotics, and diet. “It depends on the population,” said Finley. “In India, men outlive women. But if you have modern medicine and hygiene, women tend to live much longer than men.”

Cell decline

But even if you optimize all factors, such as sanitation and vaccinations, Guarente noted, the cells will inevitably experience damage and lose their integrity.

” The goal is to try to slow down,” he says.

Helping with this “slowdown” is the theory behind Elysium Wellbeing. Earlier this year, the company launched its first product, a supplement called Basis. It is designed to help keep cells healthy during the aging process. 

Guarente is one of the company’s three founders and serves as its chief scientist. The supplement includes two main components intended for metabolic repair. The first one is called riboside nicotinamide. This is a precursor to the NAD+ coenzyme, which helps cells produce energy. It may also promote the repair and detoxification of DNA, among other things.

The second component is called pterostilbene. Similar to the NAD+ precursor, it also promotes metabolic health.

Finley’s study also focuses on protein but from a different viewpoint. Her most recent work looks at the effectiveness of specific cells and the development of fruit flies’ neurological diseases.

These self-eating cells, also called autophagy, can keep proteins from developing in the brain.” But if you don’t have this autophagy going properly,” she said, “proteins can build up, and diseases like Alzheimer’s can develop.”

Finley also stated that these autophagy pathways are nutritionally regulated.

Guarente said that the thought of people living well over 100 years of age is not what inspires him. His inspiration is motivated by the idea of providing people with a quality health span. ” That you should remain healthy, live, work, play tennis,” he added.”

Health systems: The better the longer humans live

First of all, there are different levels of health among the two elderly populations. Recent studies have shown changes in health as measured by Daily Living Activities (ADL). These are the basic tasks required to lead an independent life, such as bathing or dressing. In Sweden, on the other hand, such trends for the aged have become less optimistic. One analysis showed no improvement in ADL, with reduced coordination, cognition.

Consequently, the difference between the two healthcare systems, especially in recent times, may also explain the difference. In the early 1990s, public service spending in Sweden was reduced due to several economic crises.

Elderly health care has been affected. For example, there has been a shift from hospitals to nursing homes with inpatient aged care and decreased nursing home beds. Cost cuts left some older people at risk, especially those in the lowest socio-economic groups.

People who reach advanced ages are a small category and very durable. Maybe because of their inherent durability and their particular physiology, they are ideally placed to benefit from improved living conditions and technology.

Comparative studies suggest some interesting things for other countries, specially developed and emerging economies.

These data demonstrate that it could be possible to extend lifespans longer if health improvements can be made at the highest ages and if high-quality treatment for the elderly is widely available. Indeed, if this is the case, the humans’ live revolution is set to continue for some time to come.