For much of the 20th century life expectancy in developed countries it recorded a constant increase thanks to medical advances, with an average growth of three years per decade. However, recent studies suggest that we have reached a maximum limit of human longevitydespite continued improvements in life-prolonging technologies.
The main reason for this stagnation lies in aging itself. According to S. Jay Olshansky, professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, although medicine has made great strides in combating many diseases, as we age.
Olshansky and other researchers analyzed data from countries such as Japan, Sweden, South Korea, Australia and the United States, finding that increases in life expectancy has suffered a sharp slowdown since the 90s. In some cases, such as in the United States, life expectancy is even decreased.
It is more important to increase the years lived in good
This is particularly evident in richer nations where the “low-hanging fruit” in terms of public health, such as vaccination and improved hygiene, has already been harvested. Now, any further increase requires increasingly costly interventions with diminishing returns.
The concept of a biological “safety period” is central to this discussion. Past a certain age, our bodies simply , with an exponential increase in age-related diseases, such as dementia and heart disease. Olshansky likens this process to a game of “Whac-a-Mole,” where you solve one disease, but others emerge.
While some scholars, such as Steven Austad, still believe that the first person to live to 150 has already been born, many researchers suggest that the goal should be to improve not so much lifespan, but healthy lifespan.
Increase the years lived in good healthrather than simply extending overall life expectancy, it is the new challenge. The increase in years lived with illnesses or physical limitations is in fact a growing problem and for this reason it is more important to improve the quality of life in the last years rather than chasing immortality at all costs.