Human Lifespan: Chances of Living Longer Increase After You Are 105 Years Old, Says New Study

It is a common assumption that the older you get the closer to death you are. However, new research suggests that chances of dying may decrease for those who have reached 105 years old. According to the study, the death rates which increases throughout during adulthood decreases after 80 years of age. Research based on data from more than 3,800 centenarians in Italy said that the risk of death slows down after 105. While we feel human longevity of the body has decreased, it may be slowly increasing.

A 2016 study in the journal Nature said it has after a Frenchwoman Jeanne Calmant died at the age of 122. Co-author Kenneth Wachter, a professor of statistics at the University of California, Berkeley told AFP, "As we age, our health and risks of death get worse faster and faster. But at extreme ages, they stop getting worse. They don't get better, but they stop getting worse. They level out — it's called a plateau."

The Guardian reported that for the research, data on all people in Italy above the age of 105 and older between 2009 and 2015 — a total of 3,836 documented cases were collected. When the mortality among the people born in the same years was calculated, there was found a slight decline in the mortality rate.

According to demographic data, the chance of dying at 68 is around 2%, while 4% at 76 and 30% by 97. The increase in the possibility of death every eight years is known as the Gompertz law. It says that human lifespan as the chance of dying would hit 100% at around 111. But the data showed that instead of continuing to double, the risk of dying levelled off.

The theory explains that those who die in a particular age group tend to be the frailest. The next year, the survivors who are one year older are also stronger and healthier. Some biological factors also play a role, e.g. cancer becomes less common oldest people alive.

The Guardian quoted Jan Vijg, a geneticist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York as saying, "It seems rather far-fetched that after increasing exponentially, the chance of dying should suddenly stop in its tracks." Vijg previously published a paper in Nature saying that the human species has hit its maximum shelf-life. He told the publication, "I do not consider the evidence for a plateau presented in this paper to be especially strong."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 29, 2018 10:39 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).