Americans Don't Want to Live for 120 Years

Most Americans don't want to live for 120 years, a new survey has found. About 56 percent people in the survey said that they wouldn't undergo medical procedures to slow aging.

The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center. The data showed that many (68 percent) believed that others might undergo treatments to extend their lifespan.

About 13 percent of the U.S. population is over 65 years, an increase of four percent since the 1900s. The increase in number of old people is largely due to medical advancements and a decline in fertility rates.

Recently, The National Geographic published a photo of a baby saying that it would live for 120 years. However, currently there isn't any medical procedure that can extend lifespan that long. Estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau say that, by 2050, about 400,000 people will be 100 or older.

Currently, the average lifespan in the U.S. is about 78.7 years. A majority of the respondents said that they'd want live to until age 79 to 100, the median age was 90 years.

People were also optimistic about medical advances with 69 percent saying that we'd have a cure for cancer by 2050 and that artificial limbs would function better than the natural ones (71 percent).

Even though most Americans don't want to live for more than 100 years, many (63 percent) believe that medical breakthroughs that could extend lifespan would be good for the society.

People were skeptical about the accessibility of these medical treatments.

"An overwhelming majority believes that "everyone should be able to get these treatments if they want them" (79%). But two-thirds think that in practice, only wealthy people would have access to the treatments," the survey said.

The survey included 2012 people and was conducted between March 21 and April 8.