Jeanne Calment lived to 122. But human lifespan may not have peaked after all, study finds
The study of 3,800 Italian centenarians found that the risk of death has been declining among the super-old
Has the maximum lifespan for a human already been reached?
Maybe not, according to a study of Italian centenarians published Thursday that suggests human longevity is slowly increasing.
Scientists have long debated whether the ultimate lifespan in people has been attained. A 2016 study in the journal Nature argued that it has, in 1997, when Frenchwoman Jeanne Calmant died at the record-breaking age of 122.
But the new findings in the journal Science point to the possibility for extended human longevity, and that our species’ lifespans may increase over time.
The slow but distinct improvements over time that we see in the level of the plateau beyond age 105 give hope that a fixed limit to lifespan is not currently in view
“As we age, our health and risks of death get worse faster and faster. But at extreme ages, they stop getting worse,” said co-author Kenneth Wachter, a professor of statistics at the University of California, Berkeley.