Human life expectancy pushed to maximum limit, gains slowing down, study finds

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} Gains made in human life expectancy in recent decades are slowing down despite frequent breakthroughs in medicine, according to a new study. Human life expectancy nearly doubled over the 20th century thanks to healthier diets, medical advances and other quality-of-life improvements. Although more people than ever are getting to 100 and beyond this century, they are “outliers” and will not push “average human life expectancy” higher, the study says. “But these medical Band-Aids are producing fewer years of life even though they’re occurring at an accelerated pace, implying that the period of rapid increases in life expectancy is now documented to be over.” New analysis suggests we may be nearing limit of human longevity In the new study, scientists examined data from eight countries with the highest life expectancy as well as Hong Kong and the US.