Humans to live up to 120 years by 2030

• Study predicts average age of 90 by 2027 with advances in medical science, investments in health care
• Walking improves quality in people with advanced cancer • Survivors who worked out were about 40% less
likely to die from disease • Regular exercise in middle-age increases chances of surviving stroke

Following advances in medical science and investments in health care, a new study has predicted that most humans will live up to 120 years by 2030 and average life expectancy will soar into the 90s in many parts of the world in a decade.

The research, published in the journal Lancet, by researchers from Imperial College London, United Kingdom (UK) and their counterparts at the World Health Organisation (WHO) noted that women in South Korea are projected to reach 91 by 2030, mainly due to investments in their health care. They also led the list for men. The researchers believe that people will eventually survive until they are 120 years old.

The study is titled: “Future life expectancy in 35 industrialised countries: projections with a Bayesian model ensemble.”

However, it is bad news for Nigeria because of poor investments in health evidenced by the inadequate budgetary allocation for health, science and research that has also led to scarce medical breakthroughs.

According to the study, while the United States (U.S.) will have one of the lowest rates in the western world as a result of relatively high child and maternal mortality rates, homicides and obesity. Imperial College London researchers used death and longevity trends to estimate life expectancy in 35 developed countries by 2030.

Meanwhile, a new study published in the BMJ Open journal found that walking for just 30 minutes three times per week could improve the quality of life for those with advanced cancer. Researchers from the University of Surrey collaborated with those form the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing & Midwifery at King’s College London, United Kingdom (UK), to explore the impact of walking on the quality of life and symptom severity in patients with advanced cancer. Despite growing evidence of significant health benefits of exercise to cancer patients, physical activity commonly declines considerably during treatment and remains low afterwards. Initiatives in place to promote physical activity for those suffering with cancer are normally supervised and require travel to specialist facilities, placing an additional burden on patients.

Another new research showed cycling or jogging in middle age can protect people against a stroke. In fact, regular exercise in your 40s could leave your brain with the blood vessels of a 16 year old by your 70s.

Scientists claim this may lessen the severity of a potentially deadly blood clot in old age. During a stroke, tissue damage can be limited because of the body’s DIY mechanism that kicks in. A network of ‘collateral vessels’ allows blood flow to be rerouted when arteries narrow. But they shrink as the brain ages, and vary greatly in size and number from one person to the next.

Around the world, researchers are developing ways to boost these vessels, paving the way for new treatments that could combat a host of illnesses.

But now a study has shown a simple lifestyle change in midlife could improve the outlook, without the need for drugs.

Study author Dr James Faber said the findings suggest regular aerobic exercise may protect the collateral circulation and lessen the severity of strokes later in life.

Also, a new review said structured exercise programme can help stroke survivors recover not only physically but mentally as well.

The analysis of 13 clinical trials found that exercise therapy was generally good for stroke patients’ “cognition.”

Cognition refers to vital mental processes such as thinking, learning, understanding and remembering. A stroke, which cuts off blood flow to the brain, can impair those abilities.

The findings bolster what experts have long believed: Exercise can aid stroke recovery in multiple ways. The findings were presented at the American Heart Association’s International Stroke Conference in Houston.

The Lancet study author, Prof. Majid Ezzati, said: “We repeatedly hear that improvements in human longevity are about to come to an end. Many people used to believe that 90 years is the upper limit for life expectancy, but this research suggests we will break the 90-year barrier. I don’t believe we’re anywhere near the upper limit of life expectancy – if there even is one.”

The team, who worked alongside the WHO, predicted a girl born in South Korea in 2030 will on average live to 91 and a boy to 84.

French girls, with an average of 89, and Swiss boys, nearly 84, will have the highest life expectancies in Europe.