Is Longevity All in the Family?
Professor David J. Demko, PhD
AgeVenture News Service (07-08-02)
At ages 102 and 104, Bessie and Sadie Delany were probably the most unlikely pair of authors in history. Yet in 1993, they produced a best-selling oral history, "Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years". “Sadie,” Bessie once asked, “do you suppose we’re ever going to die?” Reflecting on that question after Bessie died in 1995, Sadie wrote, “It did seem rather peculiar both of us living past 100, outliving everybody around us.”
New research suggests the Delany sisters’ extraordinarily long lives weren’t just a fluke of nature. Brothers and sisters of centenarians are much more apt to survive to age 100 than other people and have lower mortality rates throughout life, according to a study supported by the National Institute on Aging, (NIA). Finding indicate that certain families are predisposed to long lives.
In the study, Thomas Perls, M.D., director of the New England Centenarian Study in Boston, John Wilmoth, Ph.D., of the University of California, Berkeley, and others analyzed families that had at least one member living to age 100 or older.
Sisters of centenarians had one-half the risk of dying at any given age compared to the national average. Brothers of centenarians had similarly low mortality rates, except during the teenage years and young adulthood. These decreased mortality rates greatly enhanced the odds that siblings of centenarians would become centenarians themselves.
Some studies suggest that exceptionally long-lived people may transmit unusually good protection against major diseases of aging to their children. These protective factors are evident in these offspring well before they reach extreme age. Children of centenarians seem less prone to cardiovascular disease because they have high levels of HDL (good) cholesterol and low levels of LDL (bad)cholesterol.
In comparison to the general population, here's how long-lived individuals differ.
brothers of centenarians are 17 times more likely to achieve age 100.
sisters of centenarians are 8 times more likely to reach age 100.
siblings of centenarians are 4 times more likely to live into their early 90s.
“This striking finding provides further evidence that centenarians and their relatives are a special group in that they appear to be more resistant to disease or they survive disease better throughout the lifespan," says Dr. Perls. Identifying familial patterns are key steps in understanding healthy survival. The NIA, a component of the National Institutes of Health, leads the federal effort in supporting and conducting basic and clinical research on aging and the special needs of older people.
See related articles in AgeVenture archives.
In the Long Run Jogging Adds Years to Life
How to Reduce Stress and Live Longer
Religious Involvement Promotes Longevity
If You Don't Long to Live, You Won't Live Too Long
AgeVenture News Service, www.demko.com
BACK TO TOP
AgeVenture News Service, 19432 Preserve Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33498 USA
Dr. David Demko, Editor
E-mail:newsdesk@demko.com
