How old can a person live? Up to at least 130 years and
possibly much longer, according to a study published in the Royal Society Open
Science. The goal of the schoolwork is to determine if there is an upper limit
to a person's life expectancy.
It makes sense that the chances that most of us will live
that long are very small, because although statistically we could live to be
130 years old, after 110 years the chances of survival are 50%.
There is no maximum age for beings, but this study looked at
the most recent data for people over the age of 110, as well as for people over
the age of 110 and 105. and more (more than 12,000 people in total). They found
that while the peril of death steadily increases with age, this risk stabilizes
and remains constant, with a 50 to 50 chance of surviving or dying each year.
In other words, every year after someone turns 110 is like flipping a coin:
they will survive or not. Getting heads - on life's coin - 20 times in a row to
reach 130 years of age is actually highly unlikely: the odds are one in a
million.
Yet despite COVID-19, health and lifestyle improvements, our
life expectancy will increase and the authors speculate that someone could turn
130 this century. The findings are consistent with similar statistical analyzes
performed on data sets from very old people.
"As the world's population endures to grow, more people
reach 100 and more, reaching 110," says Leo Belzile, a statistician who
led the study at HEC Business School in Montreal, Canada
The results could make a difference for the very wealthy,
like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is investing in an age-changing tech
company.
"A strong empirical understanding of mortality in
people of extreme ages is important as the basis for research intended at
finding a cure for aging," the researchers write.
Not impossible, but unlikely
However, just because humans can theoretically go up to 130
or higher doesn't mean we'll probably see it soon. First, the analysis is based
on people who have already accomplished a relatively rare feat: they lived more
than 100 years. Of course, as more people achieve super century status, the
chances of someone becoming that one-in-a-million lead (upon reaching 130
years) will increase.
At the moment, the oldest living person is the Japanese Kane
Tanaka, who is "only" 118 years old. The Japanese have the highest lifespan
expectancy in the world, which experts attribute to a diet rich in fish and good
health. In Spain, Saturnino de la Fuente de León is the oldest man in the world
(112 years).
Reference: Mortality in extreme ages Leo R. Belzile, Anthony
S. Davison, Holger Rutzen and Dmitry Zholud Published: September 29, 2021 Royal
Society Open Science DOI:
