The secret to living until you’re 135? Just believe you will

Our failure to grasp the idea that human lifespans are longer than at any other point in history is limiting our ability to enjoy them, a leading academic has said.

Rudi Westendorp, from the University of Copenagen, claims our mindset is preventing us from truly adapting to increases in life expectancy which could soon exceed 100 years.

Not only do we fail to recognise this, but we try and ‘take it easy’ in the belief which have a finite number of heartbeats or our bodies cannot recover from wear and tear.

In his book Growing Older Without Feeling Old: On Vitality and Ageing, he writes: ‘It is wrong to think that we can take the life stories of our parents and grandparents as a blueprint for the way our own lives should unfold,’ The Sunday Times reported.

Adding that the first person to live to the age of 135 has already been born, he writes: ‘What parents simply shrug off the news that their son or daughter has failed to make the grade and will have to repeat a year at school?’

The popular beliefs surrounding retirement, pensions and what our bodies can and cannot handle is an outdated relic of the previous century, when lifespans were dramatically lower, he said.

‘In 100 years we have outgrown the current biological and social order and that order is due for an overhaul.’

Earlier this year, researchers warned Britain was facing a life expectancy timebomb driven by improving health and better medical care.

Stating life expectancy will increase by up to six years within a generation, by 2030, many women in England and Wales will live to nearly 90 on average, while men will survive to their mid-80s.

In some parts of the country’s a woman’s life expectancy could be as high as 92.

Researchers, from Imperial College London, warned the ageing population would place a much greater strain on the NHS, social services and the pensions sector.

The wealthy should be prepared to pay higher taxes to fund better health and social care, they said.