Humans have not yet reached the limit of their longevity

How many years can the human being live? It's still a mystery. Although most cases of those with longevity records on the planet are about 115 years old, a new study suggests that men and women have not yet reached their maximum lifespan.

Louise Calment, who lived 122 years – died in 1997; is considered the longest known person, or Chile Celino Villanueva, who died in April with 121 years – despite the fact that the Guinness Registry never confirmed it for lack of evidence – would cease to be anecdotal in the near future. [19659002] The results of research published in the journal Science "strongly suggest that longevity continues to increase over time and that a limit, if it exists, has not yet been reached," stresses " El Mercurio "Dr. Elisabetta Barbi, from U. La Sapienza in Roma and coordinator of the work, which also included the universities of Roma Tre, Berkeley and Southern Denmark.

Dr. Barbi and his colleagues wanted to badyze how much the idea that the older we are, the closer we are to the end.

With the help of the National Institute of Statistics (Istat) of Italy, they badyzed the risk of death of a person over 100 years old, using data from 3.836

Thus, they observed that "the risk of death accelerates exponentially with age until age 80, then slows down gradually, until reaching a plateau and remain constant, or almost, after 105, "says the researcher, whose work provides more context to the debate held by aging experts on whether mortality rates continue to accelerate or exponentially increase to a extreme age, or if they stagnate eventually

A study published in 2016 by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the journal Nature, based on longevity data from 40 countries, postulated that the maximum age was already identified and had been reached with the record belonging to Jeanne Calmen t It has also been established that the limit of human age was about 115 years old.

In the same line, the so-called Gompertz mortality model – created by British mathematician Benjamin Gompertz in 1825 – argues that the chances of dying they double for every eight years of life. But, in light of Barbi's findings, this would be the rule for people between the ages of 30 and 80 years old.

With available information, "it is not easy to determine the limit," says Dr. Marcelo Blacutt, geriatrician. and university of the Faculty of Clinical Medicine Alemana-U.

"Factors that affect longevity are manifold: when badyzing long-lived populations, there is no single formula that ensures more years, but it is clear that the quality of life depends on the habits that have been followed throughout life, "says the specialist

In this sense, the scientific literature shows that exercise, preventive health habits and a more Socialization is a common factor among those who manage to maintain their independence and self-sufficiency over the years, and keeping the risk factors badociated with cardiovascular disease under control is also critical, says Blacutt, as a balanced diet or not.

However, there are cases of centenarians who have smoked all their lives. "We do not know why they occur, there are probably genetic codes that make them more resistant, but these are some of them. s

Therefore, the doctor insists that "how much we can live. My point of view, living longer than usual can mean significant suffering if the body and mind do not accompany you. "

An aspect that also worries Dr. Barbi, who claims that the results of his study" are not only they give a clear and certain answer on mortality curves, but they are crucial for understanding the mechanisms at the basis of human longevity, and future developments in the theories of aging. "