52? Still far too young for most.
89? Probably quite a good innings.
How about 115? Yes, that's really possible. But only just.
New research conducted in The Netherlands has found that the maximum ceiling life span for a female is 115.7 years.
For men it is slightly lower at 114.1 years but even so that's a long time.
This conclusion was come to by statisticians at Tilburg and Rotterdam's Erasmus University who studied data from 75,000 people who have died in the Netherlands in the last 30 years.
One of the three scientists who conducted the research, Professor John Einmahl, is quoted by Medical Express as saying:
On average, people live longer, but the very oldest among us have not gotten older over the last thirty years.
There is certainly some kind of a wall here.
Of course the average life expectancy has increased.
Nevertheless, the maximum ceiling hasn't changed.
Just to make things clear this isn't about life expectancy but lifespan, which is used to determine how long a single individual can live as long as they look after themselves.
These finding correlate with a study carried out in America, where a similar lifespan bracket was discovered by researchers.
They determined that a person's maximum lifespan plateaus in their nineties and was unlikely to ever increase beyond 115.
These numbers fly in the face of French woman Jeanne Louise Calment, who lived for a staggering 122 years.
The world record holder is the oldest person to have ever lived, having been born in 1875 and passing away in 1997.
Whether her achievement will ever be topped in unknown but Einmahl is aiming to have his study published in the next month or so, which may reveal the key to a longer life.
Anyway it's nice to know Oasis lied when they said "you and I are gonna live forever...".
The original article was published in the Independent.
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