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Life expectancy gets longer
HUMAN LIFESPAN is far from reaching its theoretical limit, according to a recent survey, which shows the population of Britain dying younger than in similar westernised countries.
But, the survey of data from the last 160 years suggests that there is no evidence to support this. Currently, men and women in the U.K. have a life expectancy of 75 and 79.9 - 14th and 18th respectively - while Icelandic men live the longest, with an expectancy of 77.8, and Japanese women reach 84.6.
However, there is no reason to believe that we will hit the maximum life expectancy any time soon, and longevity in Britain has more catching up to do than similar countries, according to the report in the journal Science by Jim Oeppen, of the University of Cambridge, and Dr. James Vaupel, of the Max Plank Institute, Berlin.
Starting in 1840, they find that the highest average life expectancy follows a strikingly straight line, improving by a quarter of a year every year right until the present day. They describe this achievement as "the most remarkable regularity of mass endeavour ever observed".
Today, the oldest man title belongs to Yukichi Chuganji, 113, a retired Japanese silkworm breeder born on March 23, 1889. The official oldest person, at 114, is Kamato Hongo, born in Isen on the Japanese island of Kyushu on Sept 16, 1887, though a Georgian, Nino Sturua, claims to be 120, and a Brazilian, Ana Martins da Silva, claims to be 121.
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