Despite all the “band-aids” of medicine, the increase in life expectancy has slowed considerably over the last thirty years, according to a study on longevity.
- Life expectancy at birth in populations [de huit pays à la longévité la plus élevée] has increased by an average of only six and a half years since 1990. A figure much lower than the predictions of some scientists.
- “Most elderly people today are living on time that medicine has manufactured.” And the time savings produced by these “medical dressings” are decreasing in number of years of life, despite the boost in medical advances.
- Continuing to extend life by reducing disease could even be detrimental if those extra years are not healthy years, the study found.
Has human longevity reached its limits? Certainly, our life expectancy has improved dramatically since the 19th century, thanks to healthier diets, medical advances and other improvements in the quality of daily life. But after nearly doubling over the past century, the rate of increase in life expectancy has slowed significantly over the past three decades, according to a new study led by the University of Illinois at Chicago and published in Nature Aging.
A slowing increase in life expectancy
“Life expectancy at birth in populations [de huit pays à la longévité la plus élevée] has thus increased on average by only six and a half years since 1990”, details a press release. A figure well below the predictions of some scientists, who estimated that life expectancy would increase at a sustained rate in the 21st century, and that the majority of people born today would live beyond 100 years. This is new evidence, according to the study, that “humanity is approaching a biological limit to lifespan.”
“Most elderly people today live in time that medicine has created,” says S. Jay Olshansky, professor of epidemiology and lead author of the study. And the time savings produced by these “medical dressings” are decreasing in number of years of life, despite the boost from medical advances. In other words, “the period of rapid increase in life expectancy is now over.”
Measuring the number of years of healthy life
According to the specialist, continuing to extend life by reducing diseases could even be detrimental if these additional years are not years of good health. He therefore calls for changing the way we think about longevity, by measuring the number of years of healthy life, rather than simply the number of years lived.
In 1990, Professor Olshansky had already published an article suggesting that human life expectancy was approaching a limit around 85 years. Thirty-four years later, his new research reinforces this idea, showing that the longevity one gains diminishes as populations age and experience the inevitable effects of aging.
He said it is essential to invest more in geroscience – the science that seeks to slow aging – to improve both quality of life and longevity. “It’s a glass ceiling, not a brick wall”he concludes.
