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New research reveals longevity gains slowing, life expectancy of 100 unlikely

(lafollette.wisc.edu)
215 points XzetaU8 | 2 comments | 30 Aug 25 16:15 UTC | HN request time: 0.428s | source
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lemoncookiechip ◴[31 Aug 25 13:49 UTC] No.45083139[source]▶
I find it a tough sell to add another 20 years to life expectancy, considering that by the time you reach 70, most people are already in decline (some worse than others), and the drop from 70 to 80 tends to be steep for many. Those who make it past 80 into their 90s or even 100s often aren’t living particularly fulfilling lives, if you can even call it living at that point.

Losing your vision, your hearing, your mobility, and worst of all, your mind, doesn’t sound very appealing to me.

So unless we find a way to both live longer and to decliner slower, I just don't see the point for the majority of people who will unfortunately live lonely worse lives.

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melling ◴[31 Aug 25 14:19 UTC] No.45083330[source]▶
The president of the United States is almost 80. Bernie Sanders is 83. The Stones are still touring, …

Ed Thorpe is well into his 90s. Here’s an interview with him at 89. Seems quite healthy: https://youtu.be/CNvz91Jyzbg?si=VNj61A256ZOBM977

This 10 minutes deals directly with fitness and longevity: https://youtu.be/dzCpUbkC1dg?si=LqV-tUFyxyYMW0qC

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1. lemoncookiechip ◴[31 Aug 25 14:32 UTC] No.45083425[source]▶
People thought the President had died just yesterday because of how rapidly his health has declined since taking office in January. Bernie Sanders, for example, has had multiple health emergencies over the past few years.

Using a few famous people as examples is hardly a reliable metric. My aunt is still alive at 103 and will likely make it to 104 if nothing changes. She has fewer health problems than other family members in their 60s if you discount the fact that she’s basically blind, can't hear well, is stuck in a bed 24/7, and has severe dementia that prevents her from recalling things seconds after being told, aside from some specific memories from her youth. Meanwhile, almost all of her children died under very poor health conditions in their 70s and 80s. Her oldest daughter looked like she was a corpse at 80.

Some people just get lucky with their genes, and it doesn’t always pass on to their children or grand-children.

PS: For reference, she had 11 children, almost all dead now while she's alive and can't recall their names or ever having children.

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2. melling ◴[31 Aug 25 15:01 UTC] No.45083690[source]▶
I’m not sure what we’re arguing here.

I responded to someone who said that people in their 70s are already in decline.

How many good years after 70 did she have?

A few weeks ago, I had lunch with a friend and his 80-year-old wife. I would’ve never guessed she was 80.