Don't expect human life expectancy to grow much more, researcher says

NEW YORK: Humanity is hitting the upper limit of life expectancy, according to a new study. Advances in medical technology and genetic research n...

NEW YORK: Humanity is hitting the upper limit of life expectancy, according to a new study.

Advances in medical technology and genetic research - not to mention larger numbers of people making it to age 100 - are not translating into marked jumps in lifespan overall, according to researchers who found shrinking longevity increases in countries with the longest-living populations.

"We have to recognize there's a limit” and perhaps reassess assumptions about when people should retire and how much money they'll need to live out their lives, said S. Jay Olshansky, a University of Illinois-Chicago researcher who was lead author of the study published Monday by the journal Nature Aging.

Mark Hayward, a University of Texas researcher not involved in the study, called it "a valuable addition to the mortality literature.”

"We are reaching a plateau" in life expectancy, he agreed. It's always possible some breakthrough could push survival to greater heights, "but we don't have that now,” Hayward said. What is life expectancy?