Life expectancy rise in rich countries slows down: why discovery took 30 years to prove
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What chance do children born since 2010 have of living to 100? Less than 2% for men and about 5% for women. Credit: Skye Hohmann/Alamy
Put aside the hype about the growing number of us who are likely to make it to 100, because the rise in human life expectancy might actually be slowing down. At least, according to a study that analysed mortality data for ten countries or regions over the past three decades1.
“There are limits to how far out we can push out the envelope of human survival,” says study co-author S. Jay Olshansky, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago. “If you live long enough, you run up against the biological process of ageing.”
The era of what he calls radical life extension is over, he argues. Some researchers, however, disagree and point out that medical science could yet find a way to push age limits.
