A new study published in the journal Nature Aging argues that humans are hitting the upper limit of life expectancy given advances in medical technology and genetic research. Specifically the study is talking about life expectancy as in the average number of years a baby might expect to live, not any particular outlier in one way or another. In general, that average figure has slowly improved, by about 2.5 years per decade in developed countries during the 1990s, but slowing to about 1.5 years per decade in the 2010s. That’s indicating that marginal increases in the average lifespan of large populations are getting harder and harder to squeeze out; for instance, even if all deaths before age 50 were eliminated, the average lifespan would only increase by around 1.5 years.
Comments