Scientists Identify the Maximum Human Lifespan

Researchers have also disclosed whether men or women tend to live longer

Researchers claim to have identified the 'maximum age' a human can reach, which is likely to comfort those with thanatophobia, the intense fear of death or dying.

Statistics show that the average American lives to 78.39 years. In the United Kingdom, the life expectancy is slightly higher at 81.24 years, and in Canada, it reaches 81.65 years.

If you’re prone to anxiously counting down the years, there’s promising news: you might live significantly beyond these average figures, according to recent research findings.

Researchers from Tilburg and Erasmus universities in Rotterdam have investigated how long a human body could potentially live if not prematurely affected by illness or accidental injury.

The answer may surprise you.

Researchers have debated the 'maximum age' a human can reach

To investigate this, scientists examined 75,000 individuals who passed away in the Netherlands over a thirty-year span, up to 2017.

The age at death for each person was recorded to help researchers identify when a person's maximum lifespan levels off.

After thoroughly reviewing all the data, they found that the plateau typically occurred when a person reached 90 - but this did not signify the end of their life.

By considering the ages at which the study participants died, the researchers concluded that a person's maximum lifespan levels off in their nineties - but this doesn't imply it will end.

The researchers soon suggested it is improbable for a human to live beyond 115. They also found that biological women had a slightly longer lifespan than men.

While the maximum lifespan for a woman peaked at 115.7 years, men were estimated to reach a maximum age of 114.1 years.

Commenting on the findings, Professor John Einmahl, one of the three scientists conducting the study, told AFP: "On average, people live longer, but the very oldest among us have not aged further over the last thirty years."

The study suggests that it is improbable for someone to live beyond 115 years

"There appears to be a limit here. While average life expectancy has risen, the maximum lifespan hasn't changed."

Although the researchers' findings are robust, Professor Einmahl noted that some individuals exceed the suggested maximum lifespans.

You may already know that the oldest man ever verified by Guinness World Records was a Japanese supercentenarian named Jiroemon Kimura, who lived to be 116 years and 54 days old.

Currently, the world's oldest living woman is Ethel Caterham, who is 116 years and 48 days old. She was born in 1909 and was the last surviving subject of King Edward VII.

The British native was born in Hampshire and lived in the UK until she was 18, when she moved to India for an au pair position.

In 2020, she survived COVID, and on her 116th birthday, she received a congratulatory message from João Marinho Neto of Brazil (born October 5, 1912), the world's oldest living man.