Here’s a cool new excuse not to eat kale: Even the healthiest human body will expire at around 115 years, according to a study published by Nature yesterday. “It seems highly likely we have reached our ceiling,” Dr. Jan Vijg, an expert on aging at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the publisher of said research, told the New York Times yesterday. “From now on, this is it. Humans will never get older than 115.”
On the one hand, this is a buzzkill. I had a lot of plans for my second century (eating with reckless abandon, Mars). On the other hand, this is an interesting bit of research to cite the next time I want to get out of exercising. According to Dr. Vijg and his team of graduate students, the growth patterns of our aging population revealed something pretty troubling: the upward trend screeched to a halt about 10 years ago (when liquid eyeliner was popular, just saying).
The Times dubbed the team’s findings “the latest volley in a long-running debate among scientists about whether there’s a natural barrier to the human life span.” To that end, many people in the scientific field of aging think such a claim is short-sighted. A travesty even, in the words of James W. Vaupel, the director of the Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging.
“It is disheartening how many times the same mistake can be made in science and published in respectable journals,” said Vaupel. I have to say my instincts were the same when I first read the news this morning from the comfort of my sweatpants and naiveté. Did the confidence of Dr. Vijg give anyone else severe closing-the-patent-office vibes? I can already see the 2116 headlines: “100 Years Ago They Thought 115 was the Human Age Ceiling. LOL!!!” (Byline: me, age 127.) Right?
But obviously this is more than a slap-dash conclusion. “Based on his own experimental research,” reports the Times, “Dr. Vijg describes aging as the accumulation of damage to DNA and other molecules. Our bodies can slow the process by repairing some of this damage. But in the end it’s too much to fix.” Dr. Vijg goes on to argue that the focus shouldn’t be on extending lifespan, but rather making our healthy years better. “There’s a good chance to improve health span — that’s the most important thing.”
Welp, there goes my kale excuse. What do you think? Do you want to defy science with your age one day? Every time I see my mom she begs me to make sure she goes before she needs help going to the bathroom, so I know where she stands. Would you want to live forever if science would allow it?
Or maybe the bigger question is: Should humans even be trusted with the extra time?*
*Trump
alt: *Season 492 of The Bachelor
Photo via iStock.
