Does Human Life Span Really Have a Limit?

Scientists believe that human life may be longer than originally thought.  There might be a human alive today that will be able to live until the age of 150 because of advances in medicine and sanitation.  Back in 1900 people lived until about the age of 50 and now in the 21^st century people on average are living until their late 70’s and longer.  Studies show that if a person lives into their 100’s the risk of dying slows and may plateau above the age of 105.  People who make it well into their 70’s, 80’s, or 90’s may also make it to their 110’s with good health.  Scientists find this very encouraging.

In France there was a woman named Jeanne Calment who lived from 1875 to 1997.  She died at the ripe old age of 122 and was recorded as the longest living person.

Researchers have debated whether or not there is a life expectancy maximum.  Some have decided that life peaks at about the age of 105 and some say not until the age of 115.  There is not enough information to determine if people will live longer than this.  When a person reaches middle age their life expectancy starts to decline depending on their lifestyle and health.

A study found that if women lived until the age of 90 had an expected life span of 6 years and 15% chance of dying within a year, but if they lived until the age of 95 their expected life span lowers to 3 ½ with a 24% chance of dying in a year.  At the age of 105 you have a greater chance of dying within the year, but you also have the chance of living longer.  Even with all the medical and technical advance the body still starts to deteriorate after a certain age due to biological limits.

Since the number of people in their 100’s is very small we are not able to get an average of why some live longer than others.  It’s also hard to determine the average life span due to the fact that it’s different in various groups of people – like the people of the East are different from the people from the West.

At this time there is a good chance that more people will live into their 100’s than were able to survive 100 years ago because of better medical and most people are taking better care of themselves.