ArticleAging2017
Telomeres and the natural lifespan limit in humans.
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Article in Aging, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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69citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A review and meta-analysis: Cross-tissue telomere length correlations in healthy humans.Ageing research reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Trial
- Biological aging and generational shifts in early-onset cancer risk.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- Erythrocyte Count, Anemia, and the Human Natural Lifespan Limit: Evidence from the Long Life Family Study.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Age-adjusted leukocyte telomere length predicts long-term mortality in older patients discharged from acute care hospitals.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Diagnosis and management of adult telomere biology disorders.Haematologica · 2026Review
- Association of leukocyte telomere length with anti-HBsAg antibody titer in Hepatitis-B recovered patients from the Pakistani population.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Hemophilia is associated with accelerated biological aging.Haematologica · 2025Article
- Telomere attrition becomes an instrument for clonal selection in aging hematopoiesis and leukemogenesis.Nature genetics · 2025Article
- From telomeres and senescence to integrated longevity medicine: redefining the path to extended healthspan.Biogerontology · 2025Review
- Telomeres in Space.Aging cell · 2025Article
- Targeting telomere dynamics with plant-derived compounds: Molecular strategies against aging.Current research in pharmacology and drug discovery · 2025Review
- Long donor leukocyte telomeres raise risk of severe COVID-19 in recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplant.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Article
- The influence of sex-specific factors on biological transformations and health outcomes in aging processes.Biogerontology · 2024Review
- Searching for Beauty and Health: Aging in Women, Nutrition, and the Secret in Telomeres.Nutrients · 2024Review
- Effect of polygenic scores of telomere length alleles on telomere length in newborns and parents.Aging cell · 2024Article
- Association between telomere length and Plasmodium falciparum malaria endemicity in sub-Saharan Africans.American journal of human genetics · 2024Article
- Telomere shortening induces aging-associated phenotypes in hiPSC-derived neurons and astrocytes.Biogerontology · 2024Article
- Smoking and diabetes cause telomere shortening among alcohol use disorder patients.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The long and the short of it: Salivary telomere length as a candidate biomarker for hypertension and age-related changes in blood pressure.Physiological reports · 2024Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
29 authors.
Troels SteenstrupEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.
Jeremy D KarkEpidemiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
Simon VerhulstGroningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
Mikael ThinggaardDepartment of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense 5220, Denmark.
Jacob V B HjelmborgEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.
Christine DalgårdDepartment of Public Health, Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, 5000 Odense C, Denmark.
Kirsten Ohm KyvikDepartment of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark and Odense Patient Data Explorative Network (OPEN), Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
Lene ChristiansenEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.
Massimo ManginoDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.
Timothy D SpectorDepartment of Twin Research and Genetic Epidemiology, King's College London, London, UK.
Inge PetersenEpidemiology, Biostatistics and Biodemography, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Odense 5000, Denmark.
Masayuki KimuraCenter of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
Athanase BenetosDepartment of Geriatrics, University Hospital of Nancy, F54500, France.
Carlos LabatINSERM, U1116, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy, F54500, France.
Ronit SinnreichEpidemiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
Shih-Jen HwangPopulation Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD and the Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
Daniel LevyPopulation Sciences Branch of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD and the Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA 01702, USA.
Steven C HuntCardiovascular Genetics Division, Department of Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14850 USA.
Annette L FitzpatrickDepartment of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Wei ChenCenter for Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 07118, USA.
Gerald S BerensonCenter for Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA 07118, USA.
Michelangela BarbieriDepartment of Medical, Surgery, Neurologic, Metabolic and Aging Science, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvtelli" 80138 Naples, Italy.
Giuseppe PaolissoDepartment of Medical, Surgery, Neurologic, Metabolic and Aging Science, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvtelli" 80138 Naples, Italy.
Shahinaz M GadallaClinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20890, USA.
Sharon A SavageClinical Genetics Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD 20890, USA.
Kaare ChristensenDepartment of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense 5220, Denmark.
Anatoliy I YashinBiodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Konstantin G ArbeevBiodemography of Aging Research Unit, Social Science Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
Abraham AvivCenter of Human Development and Aging, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
Funding
UCLA Clinical and Translational Science InstituteUL1TR000124 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI DUBINETT, STEVEN M. · 2012 to 2015
$57.0MFramingham Project/LevyZIAHL006001 · NHLBI · NATIONAL HEART, LUNG, AND BLOOD INSTITUTE · PI LEVY, DANIEL · 2009 to 2025
$51.1MTransgenic & Knock-out MouseP30DK063491 · NIDDK · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI PETER J TONTONOZ · 2003 to 2026
$40.4MHYPERGEN: GENETICS OF LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHYR01HL055673 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES · PI ARNETT, DONNA K · 1996 to 2016
$18.1MSTALLARD Admin Supp: Predicting Future Care Needs and Costs for Individual Medicare Enrollees with Incident Suspected Alzheimer's DiseaseP30AG034424 · NIA · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI SCOTT M. LYNCH · 2009 to 2026
$12.2MEVOLUTION OF CARDIOVASCULAR RISK WITH NORMAL AGINGR01AG016592 · NIA · TULANE UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · PI CHEN, WEI · 2000 to 2015
$11.7MExceptional Survival: Trajectories to Functional Aging (CHS All Stars)R01AG023629 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI NEWMAN, ANNE B. · 2004 to 2016
$9.5MCHARGE Consortium: Omics Discovery for CVD and Aging PhenotypesR01HL105756 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI Bruce M Psaty, NICHOLAS L SMITH · 2011 to 2026
$9.5MThe Family Blood Pressure Program (HyperGEN Network)U01HL054471 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · PI HUNT, STEVEN C. · 2000 to 2007
$7.4MCHS Events Follow-up StudyR01HL080295 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI PSATY, BRUCE M · 2009 to 2014
$6.3MThe Family Blood Pressure Program (Program Data Center)U01HL054473 · NHLBI · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · PI RAO, DABEERU C · 2000 to 2008
$5.8MWGA Study to Identify Genetic Variants Associated with CV Events in CHSR01HL087652 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · PI PSATY, BRUCE M · 2007 to 2009
$5.1MNCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR000124NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201200036CNHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC015103NHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC025195NHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC035129NHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC045133NHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC055222NHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC075150NHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC085079NHLBI NIH HHS N01 HC085086NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL055673NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL080295NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL080698NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL087652NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL105756NHLBI NIH HHS R01 HL116446NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL054471NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL054472NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL054473NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL054495NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL054496NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL054509NHLBI NIH HHS U01 HL080295NHLBI NIH HHS U10 HL054471NHLBI NIH HHS U10 HL054472NHLBI NIH HHS U10 HL054473NHLBI NIH HHS U10 HL054495NHLBI NIH HHS U10 HL054496NHLBI NIH HHS U10 HL054509NIA NIH HHS P30 AG034424NIA NIH HHS R01 AG015928NIA NIH HHS R01 AG016592NIA NIH HHS R01 AG020098NIA NIH HHS R01 AG023629NIA NIH HHS R01 AG027058NIA NIH HHS R56 AG020098NIA NIH HHS R56 AG023629NICHD NIH HHS R01 HD071180NIDDK NIH HHS P30 DK063491NIEHS NIH HHS R01 ES021724Wellcome Trust
Abstract
An ongoing debate in demography has focused on whether the human lifespan has a maximal natural limit. Taking a mechanistic perspective, and knowing that short telomeres are associated with diminished longevity, we examined whether telomere length dynamics during adult life could set a maximal natural lifespan limit. We define leukocyte telomere length of 5 kb as the 'telomeric brink', which denotes a high risk of imminent death. We show that a subset of adults may reach the telomeric brink within the current life expectancy and more so for a 100-year life expectancy. Thus, secular trends in life expectancy should confront a biological limit due to crossing the telomeric brink.
Indexed as
Telomere ShorteningAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAgingAlgorithmsBlotting, SouthernCohort StudiesFemaleHumansLeukocytesLife ExpectancyLongevityMaleMiddle AgedModels, Biologicalleukocyteslife-expectancylongevitymaximal lifespansex
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Read underepoch 390
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.