Current Events > Study: human life my have an "absolute limit" of 150 years

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https://www.livescience.com/human-life-span-limit-150-found.html

Humans may be able to live for between 120 and 150 years, but no longer than this "absolute limit" on human life span, a new study suggests.

For the study, published online May 25 in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers used mathematical modeling to predict that after 120 to 150 years of age, the human body would totally lose its ability to recover from stresses like illness and injury, resulting in death. If therapies were to be developed to extend the body's resilience, the researchers argue, these may enable humans to live longer, healthier lives.

Studies like this one "rely on historic and present data from populations of people," Judith Campisi, a professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, California, told Live Science. "It's guessing, but based on good numbers," added Campisi, who is also a senior scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. (Campisi was not involved in the new study.)

The researchers analyzed large datasets from the U.S., the U.K. and Russia, which together include anonymized medical data for more than 500,000 people. They utilized data from a simple blood test, available for almost everyone in the datasets. Individuals took the blood tests several times over the course of a few months.

The researchers looked at two numbers collected from blood tests for three different age groups: a ratio of two different types of disease-fighting white blood cells; and a measure of variability in the size of red blood cells. Just as a person might have grayer hair as they age, said Dr. Marc J. Kahn, dean of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine and vice president for health affairs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, these two numbers go up as a person ages. Scientists call these biomarkers of aging.

From those blood tests, they then used a computer model to determine what they called dynamic organism state indicator, or DOSI, for each person essentially a measure of "biological age" that they could use along with the time between blood tests to quantify how well a person would be able to recover from a stress, like illness or injury.

"The authors are able to use this DOSI to measure recovery time," said Kahn, who was not involved in the current study. "The problem is at a certain point in aging, the recovery time is so great that we lose resiliency." Based on trends in the data, the researchers found that sometime between 120 and 150 years old, resiliency would entirely cease and a person would be unable to survive.

Researchers also looked at data on physical activity, measured in number of steps per day, to validate their results. They found the same pattern: Younger people tended to take more steps each day, while older people took fewer daily steps as they aged. Extrapolating from the data, the researchers found roughly the same age limit as they did from the DOSI measure.

Even though the research suggests humans could live to 150, that number doesn't say anything about the quality of life in old age, Campisi said. In recent years, many scientists have come to refer to the number of healthy years in a person's life as their health span.

"That has huge societal implications, much more than maximum life span," Campisi said. Health in old age not only impacts a person's life, but also can have huge costs in terms of time, money, and medical resources, among others.

The researchers argue that if there were a way to increase resiliency in old age, it would not only increase human life span, but also health span, since older people would be able to recover more easily from illness and injury. To increase resiliency, Kahn could see efforts to create mechanical organs or to come up with ways to reprogram aging cells.

"Now, we're talking about the whole concept of human and mechanical constructs that are features of science fiction," Kahn said. But the study suggests "it's really going to take those types of things to extend human [life span]."

Of course, human life span is highly variable, and Campisi said that there"s always a question of whether this type of data is generalizable. The datasets used in the study, though extensive, came only from a few countries. The number the researchers came up with is also an average and applies to humans as a population; there are still countless factors, from income to diet, that might influence how long an individual person lives. Studies like this, she said, are inexact by nature. But barring changes to the fundamental biology of humans, there is one thing that is certain, Campisi said.

"For sure, we're all going to die," she said.

The researchers of the study are from the Singapore-based biotech company Gero, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, New York, and the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow.

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So, you mean I won't be able to live to see humanity become a space-faring species hundreds of thousands of years from now?

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what about freezing the brain

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Solar_Crimson posted...

So, you mean I won't be able to live to see humanity become a space-faring species hundreds of thousands of years from now?

Nobody will ever see this happen

The longest living person was like 120-121.

I think that was a number in some texts of Judaism. 120 is the limit of life. I mean even if we could live longer than that, would we even want to?

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None of us will make it to even 150 anyway so it doesn't matter. Of all the people alive today, the only ones who have a chance to reach 150 maybe, are kids. Anyone 20 or older is probably too old to benefit from the 150 extended life technology

As a natural body, that's probably the limit.

Supplanted with technology, who knows? Probably as long as the brain can stay healthy.

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I haven't read anything yet, but on the outset the topic title seems like it doesn't reflect what is likely stated.

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refmon posted...

what about freezing the brain

You'd still need a housing I'd think, unless someone wanted to live out eternity in a jar.

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sounds like quitter talk to me

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Challenge accepted.

MushroomMuncher posted...

even if we could live longer than that, would we even want to?

assuming we could do so without feeling miserable, like if aging could somehow be slowed down where a 120 year old had the fitness and health of a healthy 50 year old by todays standards, then yeah Id wanna stick around longer.

only downside would be time passing by faster so those last 20-30 years would probably feel like 5-10 years

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This study isn't the first to use modeling to examine human life span. Jan Vijg, a geneticist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, led a study detailed in 2016 in the journal Nature, that analyzed trends in life expectancy data to estimate that it would be unlikely for humans to exceed 125 years old. Other researchers have argued that there is no ultimate limit on human life span.

I think those researchers who say "there is no ultimate limit on human life spans", are kidding/fooling themselves.

I think all living beings will have a age limit, that # will vary based on your genes & what kind of genetic editing you can do to extend it.

But the search for immortality is a fools goal. The goal should be life extension through genetic engineering and improving the quality of life for what you have.

Even though the research suggests humans could live to 150, that number doesn't say anything about the quality of life in old age, Campisi said. In recent years, many scientists have come to refer to the number of healthy years in a person's life as their health span.

And Quality of life should be the highest priority.

Imagine Genetically Engineering your Humans to slow the body's aging rate after you hit puberty.
Internally & Externally, you'll age at a fraction of a regular normal human's body rate and maintain youth for far longer period of time.

Imagine after puberty, being able to look teenage young for 2/3/4/5/...x longer than a regular human.

and maintaining those physical properties on the inside & outside until you're near death.

Imagine never having to worry about getting "Gray Hairs" until you're about to die biologially. The growth of "gray hair" could be a warning sign to the new genetically engineered human that you're going to die soon and that the transition period between natural hair color and full "Gray Hair" is your warning signal. Then you would know what to do with your final days.

You can genetically engineer a ~49.7 day transition period for your "Gray Hairs" to grow in and another ~49.7 days for the final existence in "Gray Hair" mode.

Then you'd have a definite sign as to when you'll die.

Imagine the benefits of genetic engineering to slow your physical appearance by 1/2 past puberty on the outside and 1/3 on the inside. This would prevent you from aging past a modern day normal 70 something years old but internally be able to move like you're in your 50's, while you would be up to 136 y/o at the worst case scenario.

And Genetic Engineering would gurantee that nearly every engineered human would live to 136 y/o barring outside non-aging related or new disease related incidents that would kill you.

That would be generation 1 of Genetic Engineering.

The end goal could be to age at 1/10th of a normal human past puberty, never aging past a modern day 40 years old on the outside and have the mobility of a 30 something by aging internally at 1/11th while you would be able to age up to ~256 y/o.

Your Quality of life will sky rocket when you can maintain a youthful exterior and interior while living a longer life.

Imagine looking like a teenager for 10x longer, imagine looking like your 20's 10x longer, etc; all while living up to 256 y/o thanks to genetic engineering.

We need our scientists to work on figuring out how to extend our natural biological lives while maintaing a youthful quality of life all the way to near the end of it.

Instead of Human aging working like a Alkaline battery and have a largely linear drop off, we should age more like Lithium Batteries and then have the end come quickly and definitively for the last 14 weeks of natural life.

@DarkRoast any thoughts on Natural Aging Limits & Genetic engineering humanity to live longer and be more youthful?

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If that is the case, then how come I'm going to live forever?

Checkmate, Professor Judith Campisi.

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brestugo posted...

"For sure, we're all going to die," she said.

Nice!

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The flesh is weak. Time to work on making us cyborgs and eventually completely robotic.

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Master_Bass posted...

The flesh is weak. Time to work on making us cyborgs and eventually completely robotic.

Mechanical bodies also have weaknesses.

Imagine being vulnerable to EMP's and losing your digital soul to it.

Or what about Computer Viruses who scramble your 1's & 0's.

Or having your body hacked and controlled.

What if you lost power and your digital soul gets corrupted because you suddenly lost power.

Or hardware / firmware has bugs.

What if the OS running your soul hits a Blue Screen of Death, or you get stuck in a infinite boot loop.

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COVxy posted...

I haven't read anything yet, but on the outset the topic title seems like it doesn't reflect what is likely stated.

I take this back, this is what the paper stated but it's kind of a terrible paper.

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KamenRiderBlade posted...

Mechanical bodies also have weaknesses.

Imagine being vulnerable to EMP's and losing your digital soul to it.

Or what about Computer Viruses who scramble your 1's & 0's.

Or having your body hacked and controlled.

What if you lost power and your digital soul gets corrupted because you suddenly lost power.

Or hardware / firmware has bugs.

What if the OS running your soul hits a Blue Screen of Death, or you get stuck in a infinite boot loop.

So the same as a human body except we get machine illnesses? The goal here is life extension not invunerability. One thing at a time.

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KamenRiderBlade posted...

Mechanical bodies also have weaknesses.

Imagine being vulnerable to EMP's and losing your digital soul to it.

Or what about Computer Viruses who scramble your 1's & 0's.

Or having your body hacked and controlled.

What if you lost power and your digital soul gets corrupted because you suddenly lost power.

Or hardware / firmware has bugs.

What if the OS running your soul hits a Blue Screen of Death, or you get stuck in a infinite boot loop.

Then the inevitable discrimination between 10W-30 and 10W-40 people.

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So the bible lied?

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Goatsensation posted...

So the bible lied?

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Honestly, my opinion is that our brains themselves are not designed to live that long. It's wide dementia skyrockets after 80.

Even if our bodies make it to 150, our brains will be scrambled to the point of uselessness.

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DarkRoast posted...

Honestly, my opinion is that our brains themselves are not designed to live that long. It's wide dementia skyrockets after 80.

Even if our bodies make it to 150, our brains will be scrambled to the point of uselessness.

Can't we genetically engineer our way past that?

Solve the root cause of dementia via genetic engineering?

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KamenRiderBlade posted...

Can't we genetically engineer our way past that?

Solve the root cause of dementia via genetic engineering?

Unlikely, because one of the roots of dementia is the natural death of cells in the brain, without replacement. Age-related senescent changes and loss of cortical gray matter. It's inevitable, unfortunately.

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DarkRoast posted...

Unlikely, because one of the roots of dementia is the natural death of cells in the brain, without replacement. Age-related senescent changes and loss of cortical gray matter. It's inevitable, unfortunately.

What if we fix that part? Genetically engineer humanity to extend the amount of time that brain cells regenerate and replace themselves.

Delay the point where the cells stop regenerating and replace natural cell loss?

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KamenRiderBlade posted...

What if we fix that part? Extend the amount of time that brain cells regenerate and replace themselves.

Delay the point where the cells stop regenerating and replace natural cell loss?

Central nervous system neurons don't really regenerate. That's the problem. There is a small amount of regeneration, but the issue has to do with myelin, and the fact that CNS myelin is essentially unable to regenerate.

Not to mention, deposition of proteins into the brain over time, like lewy bodies, is something that happens to literally everyone.

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DarkRoast posted...

Central nervous system neurons don't really regenerate. That's the problem. There is a small amount of regeneration, but the issue has to do with myelin, and the fact that CNS myelin is essentially unable to regenerate.

Not to mention, deposition of proteins into the brain over time, like lewy bodies, is something that happens to literally everyone.

Let's say you have all the genetic engineering tools to fix Humanity 2.0.

Extend that life, since you understand all the issues with aging, you can delay the onset or slow the onset of aging and it's effects.

Imagine what you can do with that kind of tools.

I'm sure that with your medical knowledge and genius, that you can figure out a solution to improve the Quality of Life for Humanity 2.0 to live longer, more youthful lives. =D

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KamenRiderBlade posted...

Let's say you have all the genetic engineering tools to fix Humanity 2.0.

Extend that life, since you understand all the issues with aging, you can delay the onset or slow the onset of aging and it's effects.

Imagine what you can do with that kind of tools.

I know this sounds really sci-fi, but honestly the best solution is to replace biologic processes with mechanical parts. Slowly converting cells into circuits, until we are completely modular.

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DarkRoast posted...

I know this sounds really sci-fi, but honestly the best solution is to replace biologic processes with mechanical parts. Slowly converting cells into circuits, until we are completely modular.

But how far would you go?

"Ghost in the Shell" far where you have 'Encased the Brain' in solid metal and that's the only part that is natural?

Or are you talking further where you take the Brain's memory engrams and put it in a new Synthetic Biological Android body like in 'Star Trek: Picard'.

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Interesting.

I think we need to work on curing all the stuff like dementia that kills people at ~80 instead of having people live to 120+

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Seems like a fair timeline. Idk how much more life I'd want after 150. Even a 100 sounds like more than enough.

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TommyG663513 posted...

Seems like a fair timeline. Idk how much more life I'd want after 150. Even a 100 sounds like more than enough.

I think 256 years is good enough.

That's how far I want Humanity to live to.

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Yeah there's probably a biological limit, but I doubt that's the cap. But, since we have technology, we can probably go past whatever biological limit exists. But we won't see the benefits of that kind of technology for over 100-200 years.

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TommyG663513 posted...

Seems like a fair timeline. Idk how much more life I'd want after 150. Even a 100 sounds like more than enough.

And as the article mentioned quality of life is the key. Who wants 150 years on a gurney?

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i highly doubt the consequences of dying are particularly bad

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in da Bible ppl lived like 800 yrs doe, dose science guys should learn history

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DarkRoast posted...

Unlikely, because one of the roots of dementia is the natural death of cells in the brain, without replacement. Age-related senescent changes and loss of cortical gray matter. It's inevitable, unfortunately.

Sounds like we need to press forward with stem cell research.

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