October 8, 2024
As people live longer, it’s like playing a game of Whac-a-Mole. Each mole represents a different disease, and the longer people live, the more moles come up and the faster they come up.
Lead author of a new study, S. Jay Olshansky, suggesting that average life expectancy for humans will eventually peak at 90 for women and 84 for men, with some places already reaching this limit.
Why It Matters: In 1990, public health expert S. Jay Olshansky hypothesized that average life expectancies for humans would plateau at around 85 years old. In 2024, he published a more comprehensive set of data which supports his hypothesis that our longevity is hitting its natural upper limit. The team of researchers analyzed data from countries known for their higher life spans, finding that even in countries with the longest-lived populations, overall increased life expectancy rate gains still eventually slow down. The conclusion? “Unless the processes of biological aging can be markedly slowed,” it’s unlikely that 21st century humans will reach a collective average life expectancy beyond 90 for women and 84 for men.
Something to Consider: The data does not suggest people throw health cautions to the wind, but simply explains that even in places with the highest longevity, there’s a limit to how much we can control the natural aging process. Humans can, however, make choices that increase the quality of life in these years. Moving forward, the study’s data could help researchers better understand how to achieve healthy aging.
Read More: Human Longevity May Have Reached its Upper Limit (Scientific American)
Or see the published study itself HERE: Implausibility of radical life extension in humans in the twenty-first century (Nature)
by Emily Hooker, based in Texas
