A new study claims that human beings have a natural lifespan limit. According to scientists, this limit has now been reached and the probability of someone living past 125 years of age (the current world record for longevity is 122) is 0.
The conclusions from the study are based on analyzed statistical data of life expectancy trends in Great Britain, the US, France and Japan. These are the countries with the highest number of centennials - people aged 100 and over.
Scientists have found that the average lifespan of centennials has not increased since 1968 and the chances of one of them living past the age of 125 is less than 1 in 10 000.
"We're absolutely convinced that humanity has reached its evolutionary limit in terms of lifespan. 12 decades are the absolute limit for life expectancy and every year over that is an exception, " researchers conclude.
According to scientists, there is also a completely logical explanation for the occurrence of this limit. Aging has a purpose. Mother nature has programmed a number of biological events in the human body to contribute to natural selection and the development of the species. But this system has been suspended in the last 100 years with the advancements in modern medicine and social services.
Today, humans live longer and better, which has raised our life expectancy. Scientists explain that Earth's ecosystem requires balance to function and that is exactly why the human lifespan limit has emerged.
The current confirmed record for the longest-living human being is held by the French woman Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at the impressive age of 122. Her life is the longest that's been documented so far.
The authors of the study are scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. They recognize Calment's record and ignore the other contender for the world's oldest human - Mbah Gotho, who claims to be 146 years old, having been born back in 1870.
