72 is the new 30!

Scientists have discovered that a primitive hunter gathered at the age of 30 would have the same chance of dying as a 72 year old present day individual living in a developed country.

The trial looked at tribal people in Australia, Africa, South America and the Philippines and compared them to Japanese people of all ages.

Dr Oskar Burger, one of the authors on the study, commented on the findings, “Hunter-gatherers at age 30 have the same probability of death as present-day Japanese at the age of 72.”

Since 1840 life expectancy of a newborn baby in the Western world has risen by about 3 months each year. In developed nations, life spans are now reaching beyond 80 due to improved medicine and nutrition.

In fact, up until around 15 years of age death rates were more than 100 times higher than those in modern day Japan or Sweden and can be more closely compared to those of chimpanzees.

The researchers commented that a longer life span can be attributed to, “removing environmental shocks, making injuries and illnesses less fatal with medical technology, and enhancing health at older ages by improving nutrition and reducing disease at younger ages.”