Perhaps the hypothesis that "very old people simply live at a slower rate" and therefore have "less damage in their cells, which their bodies can repair" dovetails with the observation that long-lived people often consume less in terms of total calories. In effect, they don't burn themselves out.
An alternative explanation might be that The Angel of Death, having become sick and tired of hovering over the persistently superannuated, has decided to move on to the somewhat younger,more productive cohorts for her unique calling.
The study on longevity is flawed by how very limited it is. It would be interesting if the researchers left sunny Italy and went into remote places in China and studied the lives of long living qigong practitioners to find another perspective on longevity. The rumour is that they live much longer than 122 years. That is something worth investigating.
While genes play a role, there is epigentics that also plays a role, which takes in the reality of the effect that our environment has on our bodies and genes.
It is very clear that if we lived a life of breathing clean air, drinking clean water, eating fresh non pesticide food and spending time moving in nature - e.g. doing qigong our lives would richer in health and longevity.
I don’t care how long technology can expand ones life. At some point one becomes incapacitated and loses mental capabilities. I don’t care to test those waters.
It’s also not nice to play with Mother Nature; she’ll enact her vengeance.
4
In a December, 1995 NYT story, Jeanne Calment who 30 years prior,sold her apartment to Andre-Francois Raffray. He would pay the (then) 90-year-old woman 2,500 francs (about $500 month) until she died, then move into her grand apartment in a town Vincent van Gogh once roamed. But Christmas of 1995, Mr. Raffray died at age 77 having laid out the equivalent of more than $184,000 for an apartment he never go to live in.
She, of course, outlived him!
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/12/29/world/a-120-year-lease-on-life-outlas...
1
Subjective time sense contraction in ageing hints at a "software" issue. At 7 a year seemed like forever to me. Now near 73 - days, months, seasons, and years pass like the scenery as seen out the window of a speeding Amtrack liner. Almost a blur. Psychology has proven that the Moon is seen as larger when low and referenced to the landscape. As we live our mental landscape expands, then marginally less by proportion to the whole. Then may regress. Is there work on this?
1
rather than ask how long can we live, the question should be how long should we live. With so many people on the planet, and with the natural population control mechanisms like disease being suppressed, longer lifespans will lead to a planet so crowded and desperate for resources that, like most other species, will most likely cause the extinction of the species. If we live longer, birth rates must go down. Otherwise, we're doomed. Here, as in so many other aspects of life, the word "enough" doesn't seem to have meaning anymore.
2
Living with superior health will permit the human race to greatly extend their lifespans into the thousands of years and beyond.
All the types of diseases that we're plagued with as we age are due to one cause which is molecular damage. This damage accumulates over time which causes inflammation in the tissue. This in turn causes organ dysfunction. Diseases start to manifest which leads to mortality.
However there is now hope on the very near horizon. Science and Technology are finally at a point we can measure this molecular damage. And once we can start measuring something, we can start engineering solutions to improve its performance (healthspan) and durability (lifespan).
Ever since the the Human Gene Project from 1990 to 2003, we can now sequence all 23 pairs of DNA chromosomes in our cells. Scientists can now tell you specifically which chromosome and DNA base pair a disease phenotype starts from, right down to the atomic level of our ATGC code.
Visit the SENS Research Foundation website to learn more from world renowned scientist Dr. Aubrey de Grey and others at the Buck Institute with Dr. Judith Campisi. There are just 7 causes for biological aging that cause this molecular accumulating damage. They have solutions to repair this molecular damage faster than it can accumulate to restore our aging body to a more youthful healthier state. Check it out!
2
The author seems bizarrely unaware that life expectancy in the U.S. is now shortening as the result of people's choices and behaviors: obesity, opioid abuse, suicide, looking at our phones while driving. It would not be feasible for our society to have to care for a huge population of very old people. So we have taken it upon ourselves to prevent this from happening.
2
You're right that Americans are living shorter lives, but that doesn't have any bearing on what the maximum human lifespan might be. The reasons for that are best saved for another article.
1
This seems to accord with what a prominent evolutionary biologist, Michael R. Rose of UCal-Irvine, has suggested: that aging stops late in life. He was led to this both experimentally (his work on D. Melanogaster) and theoretically (Hamilton's Principles of Natural Selection). It's expounded in his book with Mueller and Rauser, Does Aging Stop? If it pans out, it's tremendous!
1
Life span is creeping upward from many factors, accompanied by the fear of outliving mobility and daily sense of well-being. The best way to keep functioning well until just before the end is supposed to involve periodic hard exercise together with calorie restriction. Dr David Sinclair has posted research at Harvard School of Medicine showing that these succeed by inhibiting certain gene pathways and enabling others, resulting in enlarged mitochondria as one result. Extreme starvation triggers cell autophagy, in which the mitochondria begin to metabolize detritus built up from cellular malfunction. Enlarged, they produce energy from sugars at a greater rate. Dr Sinclair's trials focussed on reproducing the effects by introducing nicotinamide adenosine diphospate formulated with resveratrol, into the diets of sedentary rodents, with excellent results for their longevity and general good appearance. Other research highlights telomeres---protective caps to DNA that determine the number of times a given cell may reproduce. Folk botanical recipes and dietary supplements (involving certain oils high in DHA) claim to protect and restore telomeres. Taken together they promote good health from the inside out. The lazy person's conclusion from all this is to decide to take these two pills, avoid all effort and deprivation, and nevertheless die with shoes on and clean underwear. Give yourself an excuse. You can't win the lottery if you don't buy a ticket.
1
I see a lot of comments saying that people wouldn't want to live to be 85 or 90. The thing is, in my experience, the people who reach that age are delighted to go on living until and unless they come down with some kind of disease or disability that makes life unbearable. Yes, they've outlived family and friends, but they manage to cope. As someone who at 63 has lost my parents, grandparents, a brother, and friends, I know the toll that that takes, but also that you go on sadder but wiser.
And then there are always exceptions to the law of decrepitude, like my mother's friend Hugo, who was still commuting to work on the subway in his 90's. He was well set financially, but embarked on a second career because he didn't want to sit around doing nothing.
So cheer up -- you may find yourself enjoying late old age more than you'd expected!
12
These eternal optimists who want to live as long as possible seem be lacking in pragmatism. Consider that in 30+ years the world will be unbearably hot and dry and short of food where the elderly will be the 1st to die and miss out on that utopia of living as long as possible for them.
And then there is the possibility of violent revolution due to the hordes of over-population again with casualities for the frail being dominant. But then I'm a pragmatic pessimist.
3
Ha, pessimist, indeed.
Ernst
1
What good is livin' ?
when no gal will give in
to no cat who's 99 years...
George Gershwin
6
The gentleman in Acciaroli in on a bicycle on a hill. He hasn't even thought of giving in.
4
Humanity would be far, far better served by learning how to meet death, than to continue to fear it.
8
I see no evidence of fear of death here. It's possible to aspire to a very long life and still meet death without fear. Death is an eternity, so even the longest life is terribly short in comparison.
4
It's interesting to look at the ages in the Bible and see the patterns. I've put together a 10 minute video looking at man's lifespan and how/when it changed, according to the Bible:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI9Ou1L47UI
1
That's so interesting. It's exactly what several ancient Indian tomes say too. The great flood (Pralay) ushered in 'Kaliyug' the 4th and the last era when mankind's life-span was cut into half yet again. Kaliyug is supposed to be full of strife.
'Throughout our lives, our cells become damaged. We only manage to partially repair them, and over time our bodies grow weak.'
This is only part of the big picture. The other crucial part is planned cell death (PCD) a genetically modulated process that occurs through the various subtypes of aptosis.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2117903/
2
Sigh — apoptosis not aptosis.
As a result of apoptosis, ten billion human cells die every day and are replaced.
1
'Throughout our lives, our cells become damaged. We only manage to partially repair them, and over time our bodies grow weak.'
This is only part of the big picture. The other crucial part is planned cell death (PCD) a genetically modulated process that occurs through the various subtypes of apoptosis. As a result of apostolic, ten billion human cells die every day and are replaced.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2117903/
1
But what about the quality of life?
Would you want to continue in diapers, pain, unable to walk, drooling on your shoes and Dear God, incontinent.
Is that worth living?
7
Having just turned 65, I totally agree with this post! Quality, not quantity is what I want. Besides, God knows where I am when he wants me and I won't try to hide.
3
Longevity all by itself is of no value. It is only a statistic. Not worthy of studying or celebrating. Who cares about the old Jewish blessing. “ May you live to 120 years” Give me good health and a good quality of life and I will leave happily at 100 years. And thank the Almighty.
5
Not all are really interested in hanging around that long.
3
Better question: how long do we want to live if we aren't wealthy and healthy?
9
It is less about how old we can live than how old we can live well.
8
Amusing.... but given the problems of aging.... even tho some can be fixed..... new knees are wonderful, old eyes and ears,less so, old brain is slow some things shrink and some parts shrink and leak. (all this at 73). I dread over 85. Dementia is real. People are angry that young people (women have their own health issues young..... had enough of them) don't do the work thing or the investment thing (where is the high school or college level class called investment). fully educated at about age 25-30 in most cases, expected to reproduce and have a career in the 25 years... Treadmill. Already tired by age 60 -62 years to 122. YIKES. How does one continue to be productive in old age?? Can one??
3
This is good news. 115 years is exciting. That means that being born in 1937, I could be around until the beginning of the 21st Century and according to projected population there will be about 10 Billion of our species in the World.
I am very interested in what life will be like, will it be a Hobbesian world, or will we be living a much better quality of life -- full of interesting new discoveries, and a much healthier and cleaner environment?
I know that for the 10 Billion to make it to the end of the century, we will need to find a new energy source because fossil fuels, coal, natural gas, and oil will either be depleted or nearly gone.
Hopefully, we will have had enough sense to keep working on solar cells and will have very thin, fabric like, solar collectors to use the energy streaming from the Sun to convert to low energy microwaves to beam very cheap electricity to Earth grids.
If we launch these satellites to geosynchronous orbit using superconducting Maglev launchers we could have this system in place in about 20 years and may be able to head off runaway global warming once the Arctic permafrost begins to exponentially release the frozen methane stored in the Arctic.
With cheap electric power we should be able to live a high quality of life with desalinated water for food and agriculture, synthetic jet fuel made from carbon dioxide from air and hydrogen from water.
This technology has been described by James Powell in his books. www.magneticglide.com
4
I thought about the possibilities of living longer and believe that even with cryogenics it will be difficult for a person of my age to make it to the End of the Century, but 2050 AD is within reach. So, I believe over the next 30 years we can have a new source of solar energy positioned in space to provide a long-term electric energy supply to Earth. In space, solar energy would be available 24/7, not only from sunrise to sunset.
With universally available cheap electricity, humankind and my great grandchildren and their fellow humans can create a new economy and more can enjoy a much higher standard of living and a much longer expected life span, than my generation.
However to be ready by mid-century, the Earth's advanced economies must come together to mobilize our capital to accomplish the development and construction of this system. Sort of an international "Manhattan Project". Much of the technology exists for constructing a superconducting Maglev launch system. We essentially have developed the fundamentals in the Hadron Collider at Cern, Switzerland. Dr. James Powell, a Franklin medalist for engineering and MIT's 1st doctorate in nuclear engineering has described the system in "Spaceship Earth, How Long Before We Crash?"
1
Quality of living matters, not quantity. Only the greedy rich need be obsessed with living as long as possible. 90 years is plenty for anyone.
7
This month Dr Mahathir Mohamad will have his 93rd birthday, as he moves energetically into his new job as Prime Minister of Malaysia.
1
It's so odd to me that so many frail and desperate people want to try to live forever when so many young and beautiful folks choose to end life on their own terms.
6
After talking great care of myself all my life, I am surprised at my rate of decline. Unfortunately life is not fair.
9
Most of the lifespan gains have been in the 5 and under age. A 60 year old nonsmoking man today will live just a few years longer than a 60 year old nonsmoking man in 1900.
You might want to visit a graveyard from that period before you settle on this idea. I have, and I found a lot of graves of people in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. There were no antibiotics in 1900. Many diseases we get rid of today with a single shot or course of pills were fatal. It wasn't just children.
5
The last one to leave the party? Late bloomer? It's my self's plan to die laughing. Don't know when. Don't know where,but do know I will die sometime.
3
Let's stop worrying about how long we'll live and just live and have some fun. Eat and play for a better quality of life not for longevity. Have some fun. In the end, when it's all over...it's over!
11
no, I firmly believe in fate , destiny this year marks my 80 yearsi believe in heaven and all there have been so many things in my life that make me a believer
Well, if my corporate pension fund and my Swiss state-sponsored national pension will be willing and able to keep on paying my monthly benefits until I’m 150, I’m all up for it.
But on the other hand I hope that they don’t expect me to work until I’m 100 before I can claim my benefits...
8
My mother-in-law, who is 93, can't speak, can't read, can't walk, can't eat solid food, and never goes outside because she is confined to a large chaise-longue-like chair that is too bulky for sidewalks and hard to maneuver. Her life expectancy at age 93 is almost four more years. There are a number of others just like her at the (very pleasant and well-run) nursing facility where she lives. Is this really living?
38
No, it is not. But your mom is way past the stage where she could legally be competent to ask for assisted suicide (if legal in your state). So the most you can do is to keep her as comfortable as possible until the end.
2
I am sitting here with my 97 year old mother, who had both scarlet fever and rheumatic fever before penicillin was discovered. Her father was a doctor, and so she was quarantined at home, and was rather sickly, and she used to say that she never thought she would live that long. Both of her parents were of Swiss lineage, her mother living to 87, and a grandmother living to about that age, too. My mother was, and is a very shy person, who has never liked much conversation. She was a secretary to the head of the old Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis, after attending only 2 years at Bluffton College, a Mennonite one, because she was physically tired, and then business school. We moved out to Montana on the east side of the Rockies when I was 2, and she still lives out here. We spent lots of time outdoors, camping and fishing. She never drank or smoked, easy going, not a risk taker, and of course, the typical housewife who did all the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and ironing. She still likes doing crossword puzzles, and watching cooking shows, and sports. I believe that longevity is mostly genetic, my dad's mother lived to be 95, and she too was from a Mennonite background but originally from the area of France and Germany in the Palatinate of Europe.
11
The issue of greatest interest is not how long we live, but how long we live with enthusiasm.
At age 64 I would be content to live only another three years if they are the best years of my life, and then pass away in my sleep.
I would have no enthusiasm for living another forty or fifty years if they were riddled with pain and loneliness.
As long as I wake up with optimism, can still laugh at a good joke, and can be amazed with unexpected beauty, I am ready to engage life. When these qualities have left my spirit then it is OK to call it a day as eventually we all must.
32
Beautifully expressed~
I agree with so many commenters here, once you are disabled, feeble, dependent, life is not much worth living. This is why we need assisted suicide, and not just for the terminally ill. I am approaching 70, and in good health, but I have no family, I am alone. I would feel much better if I knew I could make a graceful exit, if I so chose, if and when I could no longer take care of myself.
44
Samantha: I read that a lot and I sympathize. I've seen how sad it is when people end up in nusring homes -- alone, with dementia or incontinence or other disabilities.
The problem is, you cannot "game" this system. By the time you HAVE an awful disease or dementia -- you are no longer mentally COMPETENT to choose euthanasia. And it has to be YOU who choses this -- not your adult children or your doctor.
Once you get dementia, you will not be ABLE to carry out suicide nor to ask another person to kill you.
I suggest you rent the wonderful (but depressing) film "Still Alice" about a relatively young woman of 50 who gets early dementia. She has a clever plan to test herself daily, and then direct her future self to take an overdose of pills if she fails a cognitive test. But...by the time she fails the test....she is no longer able to understand the direction nor to find the pills.
And once you are in a nursing home...you will not have ANY access to pills, guns, knives, rope....you will be a total shut-in, watched over my attendants. They won't even let you go outside on a beautiful spring day, let alone go out and buy bullets for a gun.
4
Yes, I’ve seen the movie, and watched my husband die of Alzheimer’s. I have also read a real life story in the NYTimes Sunday Magazine about a person w/ Alzheimer’s who did commit suicide. I’ve also read “Final Exit”. I am dead (!) serious about taking myself out, the instant I get an inkling or the diagnosis of a debilitating or terminal illness. And Alzheimer’s is terminal.
1
Yes! Unlike most the people who comment here, I want to live! I want to live until I am 115 or 120 if I can. I love life and it's exciting to think of what I would be able to experience if I reach that age.
The cynical comments here give me pause. Life is what we have; let's live and enjoy it, today and for as long as we can.
17
The more so in our modern era, when nearly-magical technological advances — printing, electricity, trains, medical discoveries, hygiene, nutrition, fitness science, planes, photography, telephone, music recordings, TV, space discovery, computers, emails, Google — have made such tremendous improvements to our daily lives, filling them with an incredibly rich extension of amazing capabilities, to the point that even the news of the day have become exciting events. As long as our minds are still sane and functioning, and we retain a modicum of physical and mental fitness, who would like to pass up willingly on such a unique, extraordinary, (so to speak) once-in-a-lifetime chance of joining in the feast of living? Even God is reported no longer able or willing to function without his Mozart choir or his laptop!
3
For the research team to seemingly put all their arguments about no limit to age in the basket that 'the curve levels off' is surprisingly short sighted of trained researchers. And while negative material is never proof that something cannot be, the absolute fact that the oldest human known was 122 and reached nearly a couple decades ago speaks very strongly that there is some sort of limit that is hard to break. Considering nature has billions of people to watch grow old, and that many in the 100+ range have had the benefit of decades of preventative care, we should be seeing 130 year olds by now.
Despite all the blather about how human's ultimate lifespan hasn't been reached, the facts of the matter are that there aren't many very elderly humans alive.
I'm surprised that this hypothesis was not accepted by the Journal as merely a letter rather than an article.
11
My mom is "only" 94. Her medicine is raisins in a mason jar of gin. They soak for a month. She eats the raisins and then drinks the gin. In WWII she and her sister were strafed by a Russian fighter, she was bombed by the British at Dresden, and later married a good-looking American in uniform. Her secret of life is a sense of humor and when your number is up, it is up. She will live as long as she pleases she claims. I agree and who can argue with her?
19
I like to read the monthly of my alumni club because it carries gathering reports of classes. Right now the oldest class that reports near regularly their monthly gathering is the class of '48 with 6-7 attendees. Every year the monthly carries interviews of 4-5 alumni that became a new group of centenarians out of total 200 graduates in the year. Most of them are quite healthy and talk fondly about their adventures in college days or in their business careers. Since I am healthy and I know some of the senior members, I feel close and also being encouraged by these senior alumni to live until their ages every time I read the monthly. Most of them experienced military service during WWII and luckily survived. If anyone wants to live healthy centenarian life, take the following test, The Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator©
by Thomas Perls M.D., M.P.H. of Boston University. He donates blood regularly because there are studies evidencing that frequent blood donors live longer than infrequent donors.
5
I have a friend, who at 88 still works, including a great deal of physical work, and has twice the energy of many younger people I know, (including me). He never gets sick. When others here had bad allergies he wasn't troubled.He mentioned once that he started donating blood in college and donated it every year up until recently when the doctors told him to stop. I often wondered if this practice had anything to do with his great health but I never until now knew that there were studies that confirmed this idea.
2
Too bad I can't donate blood because I lived in the UK for five months in the 80s...
My mother is 101. She made it to 100 in an independent living apartment. For the last 9 months she has been in skilled nursing care. (My father died at 90.) She still reads books, but she is bedeviled by numerous physical problems that will not kill her. There are few other people in her unit who have the full mental capacities. I am her only living child and spend 5 hours a day with her most weeks. (My sister died at 59. I live 200 miles away.)
These old people suffer. We hide them away. They don't get many visitors. We don't like to see suffering, but the last 9 months for me have been a mediation on suffering in all its forms and in every corner of the world.
Americans have little patience with suffering, but history may be delivering it to our doorstep now. It continues to be a challenge to come to terms with it. I struggle.
23
I wonder if the result would be the same in another country.
I am convinced there is something around a language, quality of life and, and by extension life expectancy. Some languages are formed with sounds that bring calm and can heal. Italian is one of those languages. Go to YouTube and find some clip of a little old Italian man in Italy. Listen to him speak. I dare you not to feel calmed down.
10
My father spoke fluent Italian, he was a first generation Italian American, his parents emigrated from Italy to the U.S. He died at age 54 of a heart attack. His father also died young of a heart attack in his early 60's.
Longevity is mainly genetic in my opinion. I know of people who abuse themselves, overeat and smoked for over 60 years who are still alive in their 80's. My stepfather is one of these people. He recently quit smoking at age 78. He will be 82 on his next birthday. He also never exercises, he drinks alcohol and eats plenty of junk food. His doctors say he's an "anomaly".
6
You should include the extraordinary ability of spoken Italian to produce the most enchanted and soothing vocal music in songs and operas, unmatched in any other Western language.
1
In a book titled; "The Blue Zones project", a National Geographic researcher describes his investigation of Centenarians , their diets and social habits in depth and summarizes how the Women of Okinawa, the sheep herders of Sardinia, other Mediterranean cultures, even the Seventh Day Adventists of California have lived extremely long lives above 100 years of age. The study is worthy reading and goes on to describe how those lessons were spread throughout communities in America. Aside from a low meat, more fish, fresh vegetables, wine, beans broccoli etc. diet, these studied Centenarians were very social, often enjoying hours of conversation with others around the meals. This is must reading for everyone. I have followed a similar diet for decades and my most recent total Cholesterol reading was about 100, below the optimum 140 to 200 range and my heart disease risk is a low 2.3 which is far below the average range of 4.4 and 5.0. Read the book and compile a brief list of the common foods that prevail throughout the studied Centenarians populations. It's never too late to learn how to take care of yourself and others. Health professionals should take special note of this book to profess the best healthy diets for their patients.
8
"How Long Can We Live?" Really? We're studying this?
The real question today is how long does one WANT to live...with multiple physical issues, memory decline and the cost of long term care.
Most seniors I know don't want to be running up nursing care and medical bills that burden their family with debt and resentment.
10
The article asks the question how long can we live, but the question it should be asking is how long can we live a life of quality?
18
I have a friend who is 101 His wife and my mother shared a room in a nursing home and he was devoted to her. He's still a joy to be around. Recently the nun who was president of my alma mater died at the age of 103, and she was devoted to her students and fellow sisters. Find someone or something to love and don't worry how long you'll live. However many years, they will be good ones.
23
This question needs to be answered as much as someone needed to climb Everest: I suppose it had to be done, but it's ultimately pointless. No upper limit, even the current average, comes without compromises in quality of life that can make the attained age a cruel joke. Until we also can cure diabetes, Parkinson's, arthritis, glaucoma, incontinence, macular degeneration, acid reflux, and toenail fungus, who in his right mind thinks the upper limit is worth it?
36
Eat spinach every day. Exercise 1 hour a day. And your genetics are still going to take you down.
3
In the USA, living past your 80s can be financially problematic, even with a good-sized investment portfolio and retirement income. Medicare isn’t what it used to be, and it is bound to be even worse by the time I am elderly (if it exists at all). I fear old age — not because I fear death, but because I fear financial ruin.
41
Rather than just look at the number of years a person has lived, I'd also like to know about:
1. Their family history. How long did their parents live, compared to the longevity statistics during their lifetimes;
2. The diets that the subjects and their parents followed.
Both of my parents passed on more than 20 years ago, but my father made it to 91 with a diet that consisted of burnt, fried hamburgers, and heavily buttered mashed potatoes: his brother was a little more health conscious and made it to 96. Neither of them did any exercise at all.
I don't know how much heredity and diet figure in, but without any data on those matters, it's difficult for me to give much credit to the longevity articles that don't even mention things like that.
I'm a non-drinking, non-smoking, exercising vegetarian, and hope that counts for a few more years than my dad and uncle.
8
You would be surprised at how many women are diagnosed with breast cancer who are marathon runners who eat great diets of organic foods and they still got cancer. Over 200,000 women are diagnosed with this terrible disease annually. Over 40,000 die from it. A coworker of my husband just died of breast cancer at the young age of 30
a few months ago. And there are plenty of men who are health food advocates who get sick at a young age. These various cancers are an epidemic for people in their 40's, 50's and 60's. After that heart disease kills most people. We have to work on curing cancer. As more people stop smoking or never start smoking rates of lung cancer are going down and cancers of the breast and prostate are increasing.
2
Mr. Zimmer stated, "The current record for the longest human life span was set 21 years ago, when Jeanne Calment, a Frenchwoman, died at the age of 122. No one has grown older since — as far as scientists know".
Truly, I am thrilled to learn that I have not grown older since Mme. Calment died in 1997, when I was but 42 years of age.
Perhaps Mr. Zimmer meant to say that since Mme. Calment died, no has has lived longer than she did.
50
Yep. Touché! Another good case that even the best professional writer does not say what he wants to mean. Which again proves that writing well, saying what you mean, is still a professional art that can be endlessly improved.
1
Ha! Good point.
1
@Robert Owen: This is good news, but in the 50-50 choice of interpretations, how do I know you've chosen the right one?
1
In 2014 there was an excellent article in "The Atlantic" written by Ezekiel Emanuel titled " Why I hope to die at 75". He writes that "Living too long renders many of us, if not disabled, then faltering and declining." He goes on to say..."It transforms how people experience us, relate to us, and, most important, remember us. We are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic.". The whole composition is several pages long and is well worth reading.
22
He was much younger when he said this so don't take it seriously. The Emanuel children are notable for being over achievers but don't make much a dent.
3
I always tell my kids to put me on an Arctic ice floe when I am old and feeble minded/body. Live to over 90'ish? no thanks.
12
It's like my Grandma said: If you give up smoking, drinking and chasing wild women you might not live forever, but it will sure seem like it.
30
I had a distant cousin who I called on her 100th birthday. She was still in remarkable health and very sharp mentally, but her comment to me was, “you don’t ever want to live to be 100.”
20
She'll probably become more chill at 101..... and more amazed. Acceptance .BTDT -- been there, done that.
Sure, most people dread the idea of living past 100, but that means you were still kicking derriere at 85.
9
It's not about how long you can live.
It's about how much living you can do while your able.
Live NOW! Like tomorrow isn't promised.
That doesn't mean be the grasshopper. Ants have fulfilling lives too. Tell your loved ones today, you love them. Smile and be gracious. Say thank you and help someone else.
Enjoy life now! Go outside and catch the sunset.
Tomorrow could suck! (Especially with Donnie Dotard the Dictating Despot, mouthing off to his deranged deplorables.)
49
This is reminding us of the injunction to go on living and enjoying the show launched by the ancient Roman poet Horace, "CARPE DIEM", seize the day! or seize the moment!
By the way, bravo for the cute alliteration "Donnie Dotard the Dictating Despot".
In all honesty we have to concede that this doting despot directing his herd of deplorables has lived a pretty enjoyable life. And if there's one good example of a "Carpe Diem" lifestyle, his has been an obvious one!
2
Sylvester Magee (May 29, 1841? - October 15, 1971) was the last surviving former American slave. He reportedly lived to age 130.
Sure he did. Let me tell you one thing I know for sure. The human imagination is a lot stronger than the will to live. Did he tell you this story personally. 130, I don't think so. But who can say for sure. A principle I have always lived with comes from the Scottish philosopher, David Hume. It goes like this. I am paraphrasing: The more unlikely a statement is to that same extent it should be disbelieved. But maybe I'm just jealous.
3
I think I know the answer.What are they eating?What was their job?How much exercise have they had throughout their life?Fascinating article.
4
No formulas. My independenty living 101 year old cousin did not worry about diet, exercise, etc. likes to read. Her own mom became senile at 84, died at 91. Her older daughter a smoker died last year at 78. Younger daughter has had a breast cancer. Mom - nada diseasewise. Problems hearing and now with balance and ambulation. She blames it on her specific genes. An only child raised by a single mother -- she recommends that! No formula. ( ps most of her lineage would have lived into 80's or early 90's except.)
1
No way you’re going to scare me into stashing more money into more annuities. The way the world’s going now I pray I never even have to touch the ones I already have.
12
As long as we have the health care system that is again being gutted by the republicans, we will have some of the worst numbers in the western world for longevity. When you add in the increasing disparity from the poor to the wealthy and the drug issues that are causing the age of death to go down in a number of states we will not see people living longer or even wanting to live longer. Dispare is alive and well in our country. The death rate for babies is also higher than many other western countries. A sad situation for millions of americans.
17
Why would anyone have any desire to live past 100? My grandfather just turned 91 and he told me living that long is a real burden. It's difficult to walk, you're dependent on others for many of your needs, it's just not enjoyable. I'd prefer to live a shorter but more full life than live to be one hundred or older.
33
I totally agree with you. When you cant do things for yourself and become dependent on others life is no longer enjoyable. Its worse if your brain doesn't work as you age, but even worser if it works and your body is falling apart.
8
Hopefully you won't be your grandfather.
I am stricken by the people who see how things are now and assume that these parameters will remain the same into the future. The world is changing quickly and the whole concept of value-added age is not even considered. Perhaps we should change what the world is and change ourselves. Settling into a complacent life is a path to ruin- to be alive we need to constantly reinvent possibility.
4
Queen Elizabeth is 92 and seems to be having a good time. Granted, she is richer than Oprah but she is not using a wheelchair to get about. Meanwhile, my 59-year old neighbor can barely walk and is dependent on her family.
Age is just a number and we all age differently. Luckily, my family ages very slowly compared to others and things like diabetes or high blood pressure are not a concern.
2
Stamford, CT celebrates September 2, (2015) as "Clorinda Iantorno Day" as she reached 100 Years Young!! :)
Clorinda hails from Calabria, Italy and arrived and became a citizen of Stamford about 1950. Now widowed and until recently, she lived independently making her garden, own pasta, tomato sauce, sausage and curtains/drapes!
Along with her husband, they raised four great sons; and, is blessed with many grandchildren and great grandchildren. She retired from factory work where she sewed dresses, drapes and more. Growing up in Italy she had taught many of the young girls in the community how to sew.
Now she takes a back seat; and, she enjoys visits from her large family almost daily!! :)
10
The author doesn't understand probability. Assuming the study is right, and the death rate plateaus, that doesn't mean there is no limit on human aging. It just means the limit is higher than it would be if the death rate kept rising exponentially. Suppose the rate is 25% at age 105 (it's about 13% for everyone over 85). Then the odds of someone 105 living to be 106 is 75%, and the odds of living to be 115 are about 5.6%. The odds that they live to 120 are 1.3%, and 125 are .3%. The odds of making it to 135 are .01%. So one out of ten thousand people age 105 would live to 135 (obviously I've made my death rate a bit low). But no one is living to 140, there is a ceiling.
11
An 'over 90' statistic is becoming meaningless. My grandfather lived until 103 and died in the mid 1990s; my father just passed at shy of 102 and read Zane Gray novels until the week before. My 97yo Mom could debate the best of us. Seriously, a town in Italy where 1 in 60 make it to 90. How quaint?
9
As others have mentioned, our healthcare system in the US won't allow for a large population of centenarians. Also, our wonderful president's plans of getting rid of safety standards in industry will surely lead to higher rates of death due to pollution. Workers, as well can benefit from the end of safety standards, as rates of occupational 'accidents' will rise again.
Finally, we all know that between '45' and MM his comrade in arms, the populace may not have any funds to live on. Yes, we have to vote out these misanthropists and other meanies.
15
Has nothing to do with Trump.
Those who have a good diet, maintain the correct weight, walk 20 minutes everyday, have little stress, have a close network of friends and family, and have hobbies and are mentally active, have the best chance living to 100. They don't need a great healthcare system. And I bet these super seniors in Italy rarely see a doctor.
11
My mother did all of those things, and she's still alive at 93. The only problem is that she now has dementia and her short term memory is gone. How many of us really want to live to be over 100? Who is going to take care of all of these very old adults, since most of them are no longer independent?
I hope to die before I reach the age of 90. I cared for older adults during most of my 42 year nursing career. I loved my patients but realized that for most of them death came as a relief.
( posted by Fred's wife, sohy )
4
Exactly the same with my mother. She's 93 and has absolutely no short term memory.
I was at the rehab facility today where she is currently residing after a hairline pelvis fracture and I looked at the other elderly residents, who sat at the cafeteria tables looking miserable and staring out into space. This is being alive, but it's not living.
The issue isn't how long we live - it's what is the quality of that life?
And that's aside from the economic factors that with our low replacement rate in the U.S. and even lower replacement rates in Europe, especially Italy, as well as Japan, there won't be enough young people working to support the elderly. Let's not forget that when the Social Security system was designed, life expectancy was about 62. They never expected very many people to collect.
I've told my daughter that if/when I get dementia or if I'm otherwise unable to take care of myself, to 'accidentally' put a pillow over my face. I have no desire to live past the age where I'm fully functional and able to participate fully in society and to appreciate what's going on around me.
3
King Arthur's magician, Merlin, when granted a single wish, wished for eternal life, rather than for eternal youth, and so was cursed to live on and on with progressive loss of sight, hearing, bones, an eternity of misery.
The one time I visited Italy, I was struck by how very different the Italian life was from American life. Italians living in the US typically remark: "You Americans, you drive everywhere. Even a block away!" And of course, their relationship to food is vastly different.
Italians may make 100, not Americans.
23
Then some would say Merlin really wasn't living eternally but suffering eternally.
The only way people can be old in mass is to continue to be productive, commit to being healthy and be willing to change in a world that is changing faster than ever.
3
How long can we live? It depends on how committed we are as individuals and as a species to live long. Living beyond 90 and 100 is not child's play but quest to live long has to start from the time when one is a child and don't mean just being born with a normal set of genes that would not be a hurdle to long life but multiple other factors that could thwart the possibilities of living long.
The topic of longevity has interested me ever since my father turned 90. He will shortly enter the beginning of his 100th year.
The 10 major leading causes of death currently among baby boomers are a major limiting factor to avoiding death and living long. 1)Coronary heart disease 2)Cancer 3)type 2 diabetes and its complications 4)Depression culminating in suicide 5)Obesity 6) Infectious Diseases 7)Alzheimer's Disease related dementia 8) Osteoporosis 9) Problems with eye sight causing falls 10 ) Unnatural causes and high risk activities.
Living a healthy life style with a balanced diet and significant physical activity, refraining from smoking tobacco or illicit drugs, avoiding excessive alcoholic drugs and opioid addiction and cultivating good hygienic habits , getting immunized with age appropriate vaccines from early childhood can greatly enhance chances of reducing deadly disease related deaths. Easier said than done.
Not many would want to do what it will take to live long and will need considerable medical attention and surgical procedures to maintain quality of life.
8
Spot on.
To which should be added being aware of the opportunities, obligations and civil engagement which will need to be developed for society to prosper.
1
Procedures are what pays the bills for the young uns... various replacements, PT, meds, therapy -- with the exception certain medications (is it worth 100K for three more months? and to whom?) After a certain age, surgery/anesthesia may be more likely to cause than to cure problems. Many super agers have/need relatively little medical car or medication. What is interesting to me is that people want to live to be 100.
1
This is how I view my lifespan: My husband and I have one child. Neither one of us wants to live 10 seconds longer than she does. Ditto our grandchildren.
5
What if they all live into their hundreds- would it be OK then?
However long it is won’t feel nearly as long as Trump’s presidency has been so far.
58
How selfish can one be? There's only so much room and resources on Earth. The "Star Trek" travel and technology of my youth aren't anywhere near reality, so where are we putting everybody?
Enjoy what time you have. From my vantage point, old age isn't one big party; there's diseases and dementia waiting to get you by your late 80s and 90s. Salut!
8
It has nothing to do with being selfish- it has everything to do with reinventing life. Old people can add value to society and even offer opportunities to others. It's just that the way most people currently enter their elder years is doomed financially and mentally- this must be reinvented.
1
Either way, given current lifespans in developed countries, its simply not sustainable for everyone to retire at 65 with full benefits.
5
Yes that's why we need to re-assess "retirement" from both a civil and personal perspective. If you're driving across the desert it is best to start with a full tank of gas and know where the next filling station is located.
How terribly ironic, when the MSM is running articles on the falling lifespans of middle class white Americans at the same time! Sure, Americans are living longer in many cases, thanks to massive expenditures on healthcare and public health. Since 1929, our population has grown 2.7 times, but our healthcare expenditures have increased by 946 times! We now spend 20% of the nation's GDP on healthcare, and often die in near anonymity in "Long-term Care Facilities" not even knowing our own names. Our hunter-gatherer contemporaries living in their traditional manner, live comparable lifespans, but without our artificial extensions. The folks featured in this piece are the exceptions and not the rule, not in the America I live in anyway. Dream on. Stress R Us
12
How do you separate the intrinsic mortality from the extrinsic one? Not about the statistical methods to do this, but is it really meaningful to talk two separate rates of aging? Is there a species-specific definition of life-span?
1
Universal free healthcare, worldwide attention to everyone's birthday party and lifetime tenancy at a rent set based on what we first paid for an apartment = 150 years for all New Yorkers, except Landlords, who somehow still manage to extract a profit.
6
If I can live past 80 independently in my own home, great.
If not; I'm not interested.
31
Wait till you get here.
The general trend of ageing seems to create a a old folks who are alienated from the modern world. I'm 71 and am fully aware of how surplus to the requirements of modern society I've become.
1
I’m sorry to hear you feel that way. You are not surplus.
I have always thought that life would be fine as long as I dont outlive my income.
America has the highest healthcare costs compared to other industrialized countries.
One needs to have started early, in ones 40s, to make the changes needed to insure a good quality in old age without dependency on the health care industry.
Capitalism may be invigorating, but when medicine depends on steadily rising revenue, and can advertise to inflame our anxieties, we are at their mercy of another industrial complex.
Keep moving, everything in moderation, and no sugar.
10
My dad is 93 and still going (but losing mobility for lack of use). His mom lived to 103. I quit smoking at 41. Now, at 48, I barely drink, don't eat sugar or white flour, and lift or run an hour a day. I'd like to make it to 100 and ski and race cars until 85. I take Propecia, so I don't outlive my hair ;)
4
Giving up sugar (and all desserts)completely changed my life. I used to get so tired and turned to chocolate for a lift, now I dont need to and I even sleep better.
I believe they need to look at the data exponentially to put the death rate in context. For lessons, look at the weak links in the health chain as we age. How does it differ in those who age slower/ healthier? Can we repair critical damaged cells?
How much money does it cost to live to 110, 120, or more? Who's paying for that? (Hint: not the US government if it has its way! How would social security & Medicare cope if a lot of us suddenly were living beyond 100?)
Further, why would anyone wish to live to 110+ IN THE CONDITION that most people are in at that point, namely: in a nursing home, most close friends & relatives are dead, you are likely to be deaf and/or blind and/or bedridden; eating institutional meals - and dependent on the care provided by those immigrant nursing home aides that the present administration doesn't think we need. And nursing homes are chronically understaffed.
If someone told me I could live to be 110 in the condition I was in when I was 35, then we'd have something to talk about. As it now stands, old age for most of us brings the prospect of severe physical decline, financial distress, and loss of close friends & family members.
58
Maybe you could be where you were when sixty- manageable health if you try. I plan to work my whole life if possible and make opportunities for others to prosper. If people imagine themselves as being infirm burdens with no prospects in older years then maybe they should re-envision what might be possible.
3
Basically everything slows down with the aging process. Even aging itself.
10
It's remarkable and exciting to think how long can humans live? 100 now, 150, 200, 300 years in the distant future? Man is evolving and so is our understanding of genetics, physiology, and medicine. Is it unfair to younger generations coming along or an advantage to human existence and exploration of the stars? Eventually I think, humans will even leave their bodies behind.
4
They always do!
1
I turned 85 last week. Besides picking the right parents , I continue furiously learning new things (in my case music) . This is probably more important than physical exercise in keeping you vital.
72
You didn't live to 85 because you "continue furiously learning new things,".Your expressed belief that that has contributed to your long life is hurtful to those of us who have lost loves one who have died young, to those who are suffering from terminal illnesses, and other serious illness.
I hope that my sister, who has metastatic colon cancer, and breast cancer, does not read your comment.
I hope that my late friend's mother ,who is far younger than you, but has buried two children.one at age 13(leukemia ), and one age 54 (brain tumor) does not read your comment.
There's no question that there will be people who read your comment, who are far younger than you,
who "continue to furiously learn new things",who are dying, &/or have lost loved ones at young ages, will read your comment, and find it painful, as do I. whose 51 year old father, commuted to Manhattan, one morning, thirty-four years ago, and dropped dead, by 9:30 a.m, leaving behind a 49 year old widow and five children. My father started first grade at a competitive prep school at age 4, graduated high school at 16, & graduated from an Ivy League College and commenced Harvard Law at age 19. Prior to his sudden death at 9:30 a.m, he chanted the Torah portion at the Synagogue (which is not easy to do, given that the Torah has no punctuation ,and required studying the melody ).which is but one example of many of his having" continued to furiously learn new things."
Happy birthday, then -- even if it is one week late.
My kids' piano teacher is 92 (93?) and still going strong. She lives completely independently, has a large social circle and treks into the city on weekends to catch a show. She still teaches because she loves it, not because she needs the income. If I could reach old age and enjoy life the way she does (she's a delight to be around), I'd live to 100 in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, we are not all so lucky. I guess I just have to wait to see where I land in that crap shoot.
64
We have a responsibility to future generations to die off after a reasonable length of time. Eighty to 90 years sounds about right. Probably the only thing worse than death is living too long.
35
It's too late for me to die young. I'm now working on having a good-looking corpse.
15
Wit so many idiots who voted for Trump, I want to live forever just to be a thorn in their sides.
10
Thanks for the laugh!
2
I am struck by two things...first of all...what is the quality of life at these older ages? If the only reason to live is to go to doctors to prolong your life with drugs, what's the point? The second is what I would call the "Green Mile" effect. If you recall, in the movie Tom Hanks becomes virtually immortal - and watches everyone he loves die. So you continue on while everyone you love is gone? Sounds heartbreaking to me. But, as a close friend once joked (who is now gone) "you say you don't care if you live to 90, and that's just how you feel until your 89."
10
Of course one answer is to keep making new friends, take up new interests, find new loves and thus you won't be sitting around sighing that ll the people you know and love are gone. Works for me ... might work for others.
4
So true. 90 seems so old, until it's your mom who is 88 (like mine) and is in great shape. Then living to 100 seems not so crazy.
9
What was 60 in 1900s is 85 now.. Am sure 85 would have felt just too burdensome then as 105 now..
8
1. Jeanne Calment was such an outlier, several years older than the next oldest person ever documented, it is probable that her age was not 122 no matter how well verified it seemed.
2. The "oldest ever" is interesting for publicity and the Guinness Book of Records but says very little about whether there is a limit to the species specific life expectancy. While the life expectancy at birth has increased spectacularly over the last century, leading to a vast increase in the numbers of octogenarians and older world-wide, the increase in remaining life-expectancy at age 65 has been much less. In other words, we are approaching an asymptotic level for (average) life expectancy. That appears to be 88-90.
3. To claim there might not be a limit to life-expectancy is to claim immortality. That may actually be true for a few trees, but there is no evidence for that in animals.
7
@MEM: You are wrong to question Jeanne Calment's age, as the French have a very reliable system for recording births going back to the 1790's. (And if you don't believe me, you've never dealt with the French bureaucracy!)
Further, Ms. Calment was not born in some rural area, but rather in the city of Arles, where recording would be quite accurate. Reporting a birth to the officials was most often done by the child's father within 2 or 3 days of the child's birth. There is no reason to think that Ms. Calment's birth was an exception to any of this!
13
It's quite possible there were accurate recordings of dates for her.
But being married to an obsessive genealogist I am amazed at her stories of trying to verify an age of one family member when all the others in a large family were precisely known. It's as if someone dropped the ball somewhere and the person we know existed had materialized out of thin air.
Your enthusiasm for the French system is based on good stead, but not by any means infallible.
@reid: I didn't claim infallibility! BUT please note that not only was Jeanne Calment born in Arles, but she lived her entire life there. She was born, and lived, and died in Arles. Thus it makes sense that many people would have known her & her family over the years.
Further, there is plenty of corroboration for events in her life (where/when she went to school, for instance, where/when she made her First Communion, etc.).
She was born in 1875 and is listed in the census of 1876 as being ONE YEAR OLD - do you think the census-taker got that wrong?
She married a wealthy cousin in 1896, and moved into an apartment with her husband after their marriage - the same apartment in which she lived until she was 110 years old.
I don't see how anyone could have a serious doubt about her age, given how much is known about her life, and how well-known in Arles she & her family were
1
"Since 1900, average life expectancy around the globe has more than doubled, thanks to better public health, sanitation and food supplies."
"It’s long been known that the death rate starts out somewhat high in infancy and falls during the early years of life."
much of the improvement in life expectancy happened for infants and children due to better public health, sanitation and food supplies, even though the death rate for the very young remains relatively high. the improvements are also a reason why the global population expanded from about 1.6 billion in 1900 to about 7.6 billion today: more people alive and many, many more years of life when infants and children do not die.
3
Given the state of the USA, who would want to live into three figures? As Jung said, the archetype of the old person who has seen enough of life is universally true. Old age is a time for reflection on the nature of our brief lives and the forgiveness of dissolving into the void.
David Robinson age 71.
4
The real question is how long will our civilization will last before we destroy ourselves. We seem well down that path.
51
"If there is a fixed biological limit,we are not close to it.", said Elisabetta Barbi. the current record of the longest human was set 21 years ago by Jeanne Calmet, who died at the age of 122 years. It is very interesting and inspiring to know that the human race has not reached its maximum life expectancy. Though many people may see increased life spam as just prolonging death, that is not the case - it is all about keeping heath up, as you grow.
7
The headline here is somewhat hyperbolic.
The conclusion from the study is that the probability of mortality flattens out beyond the traditional Gompertz (exponential) curve for the very old.
Even if this were true (as experts have noted in the article, the evidence is not certain) the probability of death at those
ages still remains extremely high annually, so there is effectively a limit on life span, even if that probability ceases to increase.
9
Prolonging life is the Holy Grail for the privileged and the powerful on this planet. If equality and respect for all living things were the Holy Grail instead, the "problem" of mortality would cease to exist.
30
These are not mutually exclusive ideals.
There is simply no reason we cannot live longer and have a more equitable world. Perhaps we should imagine better.
6
40 % of the people over 95 suffer from dementia, I shudder to think what the number is above 105. Incidence of dementia increases exponentially with age. Dementia is just one disease that plagues the old among many others. What is the point of going on living if you are suffering, dependent on others, a burden on society and not able to enjoy life and everybody that knows or cares about you has either died or is in a similar condition as you. Granted we don't control when we will die but unnecessary prolonging of life as an end in itself has no value.
65
What you mean is that a full 60% of people over 95 still have all their marbles. Great!
The real question, of course, is not how long we can live, but how long the rich can live.
58
Really? The high number of residents over 90 in Italian
Acciaroli would suggest other factors rather than financial
wealth are at play. Read comments by JHM.
9
It's interesting that you assume that "the rich" do not read the New York Times, given that you wrote :"The real question, of course, is not how long we can live, but how long the rich can live."
I have no idea why you believe that that is the "real question", while I'm quite certain that "the rich" read this paper.
My Freshman English teacher at Barnard admonished the class :" There are two circumstances in which you can use "we" when writing an essay.
1. If you have tapeworm.
2.If you are a reigning monarch.
She said that several students had been able to prove that they were reigning monarchs.
It's a lesson I've never forgotten.
2
How very strange that gender considerations make no appearance in this article. There is a consistent, transcultural and trans historical fact that women, when not oppressed via economic and other means, tend to live longer than men. A lot of work has been done on this issue. A solid scientific research on this topic would certainly need to take into consideration this variable in 2018.
23
This article is important and inspiring. Not only has it been figured out that the human race has not yet reached its maximum life expectancy, but also something can be done about it.
For me personally, this article inspires me because it gives me hope for older loved ones, such as grandparents. Having three parents, I have already lost five of my six grandparents, and you can imagine how hard it must be not only on me, but on my parents as well. In addition, lots of kids take their grandparents for granted. It isn't until you are a little older that you realize how special they are, and that they will not be around much longer, so you have to make the most of every moment you have together. Now, after reading this article, I have faith that children and adults will be able to have their loved ones in their lives longer. With all of our technological advances, we are not far from allowing the life spans of people to increase. This will then result in more time spent with family, more knowledge spread, and the better good of our nation. Though some may see increased life span as just prolonging death, that is not the case. It is about keeping health up, as you keep the age up.
1
The article notes something that remains important - the major gains in lifespan - and health in general - were from public sanitation and adequate food supplies.
Our modern focus is so much on medical treatments - and I am not minimizing the gains -- but a large portion of the worlds population is struggling with diseases of poor sanitation , including access to safe water supply. { And under the current Administration, the US is cutting the protections for it's own future]
And - in addition to sufficient water, air and food, give me that slower life - - - where people have a place in a family, a community, - - - we are losing that. And the prospect of a future w/o jobs for many means even more lack of connection...
18
I have no desire to live to an extreme old age. Everyone you cared about and shared life with is likely gone, and you become a curiosity. Although there will always be exceptions, it has also been my general observation that past 85, the road gets pretty rocky and difficult and quality of life declines. There are also way too many people on the planet and we need to make way for the new generations.
113
Agreed. When you get that old, there's nothing to do but watch tv, usually reruns of the Partridge Family or Love Boat, or Political shows. All very depressing prospects.
4
Agree, completely!
1
The search for immortality -- where you never have to give up your possessions, and you become a god...
Similar conclusions were reached from several studies of centenarians in the US social security rolls. There is never an age at which the mortality rate is 100 percent so the rate must peak at a lower value. The studies of Social Security data suggest a peak of 50 to 60 percent.
5
I am pretty old myself, so I feel no qualms about saying that I would not want to reach the state most 90-year-olds reach, and then just keep going for 30 more years of that. The trick would be to add a bunch more years to that physical state where you felt like you were 30.
126
Just act like you are thirty. That should do the trick. Take hold of every day, every hour, every minute and relish in the fact that you are alive. I'm getting old myself and what I find is that every day, hour and minute is more important than ever because I can feel them running out.
6
Delighted as I am that centenarians Kirk Douglas and Olivia de Havilland are still with us, I still say it's quality, not quantity, that counts. Imagine the pain of outliving your own life (not to mention, to be crass about it, the ability to afford it), simply existing with that uneasy left-behind feeling because all your loved ones are gone (a bit like the old joke about the elderly married couple who hated each other and desperately wanted to get a divorce but decided to wait until the children were dead).
When it gets to the point where we can stay 30 for several, decades, let's talk longevity. Until then, as the late great Noel Coward once put it, I've never been one to stay up past my bedtime.
110
"How long can we live" may be a matter of scientific curiosity, but the much more pressing question is "how can we live well," given the health problems that might see the current generation of Americans live shorter lives than their parents for the first time ever.
The CDC last year said almost 40 percent of American adults and nearly 20 percent of adolescents are obese — the highest rates ever. Also according to CDC statistics, 100 million Americans, that's almost a third of the U.S. population, are now either diabetic or pre-diabetic.
Mental illness is also hitting unprecedented levels. In 2016 the New York Times reported, "About one in six American adults reported taking at least one psychiatric drug ..., and most had been doing so for a year or more." That's not a misprint – one in six.
What this article doesn't tell us, and might be of even greater interest, is why is one-in-60 residents of Acciaroli over the age of 90? Perhaps the picture of the man on a bicycle gives us a clue. They probably don't sit around all day but remain active. Their food is probably locally grown and real, not boxes and bags of additive-filled foodstuffs from the processed food aisles of the supermarket. And they probably have satisfying community and social ties, rather than staring endlessly at the chat screen on a social media platform.
Genetics aside, there is undoubtedly much we can learn from these long-lived people, for without quality of life, length tends to mean little.
120
One also wonders if they made a real contribution to the communities they were part of outside of their families.
Did they start a business, take care of patients, write a good book, serve in political office, etc. Looking only at how long someone lived, tells us precious little about how well they lived.
9
One in 4 adults are on an anti-depressant or an anti-anxiety pill. However, I think that speaks more to the power of drug marketing for "lifestyle" drugs than the actual prevalence of mental illness. The only other country that has so many people on these meds is New Zealand and they are the only other country that allows direct to consumer drug marketing.
Still, this does not make your points irrelevant. Quality of life is very important, not just quantity.
3
You are very careful - and rightly so - to qualify your speculations as to why this cohort of Italians lived so long. But damn the torpedoes, man! Go ahead and say it: long, healthy, life depends on good food, good friends, and good habits.
10
Considering how hard it is to find jobs after one turns 50 why do we want to extend the human lifespan in America? It's not as if we're a humane society or provide the assistance people need when it comes to health care, family needs, etc. In America it's every man for himself and every woman can just make do. I'm not sure that the stress we're living with and the lack of solutions to the real problems of being over the age of 50 in America lend themselves to a healthy old age.
39
Look at the photos of people past 100. It hurts to imagine what their bodies feel like. We have billions too many on earth without access to basic life needs and we want to keep people who need great upkeep going for decades longer than earlier?
16
Geraldine, when someone asks a researcher at a party what they research, they have to say something.
5
Right. When my doctor told me he could give me 20 years if I would swallow his pills. I said great. I'll take the years from 16 to 36. Thanks.
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Best comment all day!
Why do I loathe thinking about this subject? I think I loathe it because when parents give life to a child they usually do not belabor the fact that they have bestowed death on him/her as well. It's simply a fact we all die and in youth parents usually did not tell us that until we are much older so we are not horrified. Some couch the sting in religious myth. Sure Mrs. Calment can defy the odds by her living to 122. So what? She died anyway and most will not live to that age.
Death is, I believe, nature's way of preserving life on the planet which could not sustain any species living forever. The myth is Ponce de Leon looked ever so hard for the Fountain of Youth and we have been looking ever since.
The conundrum I face is this: I love to experience consciousness, I fear suffering and the natural decomposition of the body. Since I do not know what death is I fear jumping into it and yet nature says not only that I will but I must. My mother never told me that or, perhaps, I would never have emerged from the womb.
Hobbs said life is nasty, brutish and short so why did my parents or does any parent bring a person into this world to face the natural often massive suffering of old age to its natural end while watching whatever hard-worked-for fortune we have left disintegrate into dust a metaphor for life.
Our bodies impossible to recognize at even 90, or 80 are shadow of the beauty we were at 21. It is reality but I don't have to like it and I don't.
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