
Maximum human lifespan could far exceed 115 years – new research - kafkaesq
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/jun/28/maximum-human-lifespan-new-research-mortality
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JauntTrooper
Only 3 men have ever lived past their 115th birthday in recorded history.

It certainly feels like there's some sort of a hard biological cap. Otherwise
you'd think there'd at least be the occasional outlier due to statistical
chance. Mortality increases extremely quickly from age 90 to 110.

~~~
gozur88
The most likely culprit, IMO is the anti-cancer function of the immune system.
You take cell damage at a relatively predictable rate (at least, on the low
end), and once enough damaged cells have been destroyed by the immune system
you start to run out in vital areas.

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pavement
tl;dr

    
    
      Prof Jim Vaupel, a specialist in ageing 
      at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic 
      Research in Germany [is outraged at the idea 
      that statistics might be used to infer clues
      regarding commonplace realities about the 
      natural world as it exists, based on typical
      observations of everyday circumstance.]
    

It's irrational to get angry at the use of statistical figures as a utility,
in order to gauge the appropriate manner of approach to natural barriers
emergent in phenomena found in the wild.

Just because we come across a rocky outcropping, doesn't mean it can't be
climbed, just as much as it may mean it can't be _easily_ climbed.

This looks like a hard problem, which very likely means that if one gets "old"
before it starts to look like an easy problem, it may come true that one might
be rendered unrescuable or pass away altogether before life-extending
therapies can improve a person's life span.

------
mgh2
[http://biblehub.com/genesis/6-3.htm](http://biblehub.com/genesis/6-3.htm)

