2024-10-09 11:46:00
Facing the increase in life expectancywhich seemed unstoppable, in previous decades we could have thought that the human species would reach 150 years, if not eternal life.
In truth, there might be a glass ceiling. At least that’s what a new study suggests, conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago and published in the journal Nature Aging (Source 1).
After almost doubling during the 20th century, the growth rate of life expectancy in the world has slowed considerably over the last three decades. According to the analysis, life expectancy at birth among the world’s oldest populations has increased by an average of only six and a half years since 1990. A rate “well below expectations of some scientists who believed that life expectancy would increase at an accelerating rate during this century and that most people born today would live past 100 years”, note the researchers in a press release (Source 2).
The greatest advances in longevity have already been made thanks to successful efforts to combat the disease, said the study’s lead author, S. Jay Olshansky. It would therefore remain the harmful effects of aging as the main obstacle to further extension of human life.
Healthy life expectancy as a new indicator
Also, extending human life using “medical dressings” would have its limits, if the additional years are not years of good health. “We should now focus on efforts to slow down aging and to extend healthy lifespan”estimated S. Jay Olshansky. Other studies have also shown that healthy life expectancy did not increase as quickly as life expectancy at birth, or even decreased.
The data presented in this study support the idea that gains in life expectancy will continue to slow as more people become exposed to the adverse and unchanging effects of aging. “Our results contradict the conventional wisdom that the natural longevity of our species lies somewhere on the horizon, at a life expectancy greater than what we know today.”, said S. Jay Olshansky. “Instead, it’s behind us, somewhere in the 30-60 range. We have now proven that modern medicine produces smaller and smaller improvements in longevityeven though medical advances are occurring at breakneck speed”, he added.
Instead of assuming that everyone will be a hundred years old in 2050, it would be better, according to scientists, to confine our efforts to the biology of agingto ensure that the quality of life of older people is improved rather than increasing their lives at all costs.
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