HOW TO LIVE TO 100
Will you see your 100th birthday? Odds are still stacked against you, but medical and social advances are enabling more and more of us to live longer, healthier lives.
Now, scientists are taking a close look at the centenarians among us, seeking insight into the questions about why some people make it to their 100th birthday and others don’t.
There seems to be little in common among people who break the 100-year-old barrier — they live in all areas of the world and come from all sorts of backgrounds. Some are drinkers and smokers, others never touch the stuff.
There are, however, some interesting similarities. Many have a zest for life. A disproportionate number have survived major traumas.
What’s more, the eldest among us are proving that healthy eating and regular exercise are important, but genetics may have more to do with a long life than previously thought.
Scientists now say good genes only influence our chances of reaching age 80 by 20 to 30 per cent. But when it comes to reaching 100, genes become even more important.
Am I going to make my century? It is a question more and more of us ask ourselves as 70 becomes the new 60, 80 the new 90 and 90 the new 80. The odds are still against getting to 100, but they are shortening all the time.
Science, meanwhile, is coming up with some crucial answers to the allimportant question: what is the secret of reaching the magic number?
A healthy diet and lifestyle are clearly key, but research at the University of Boston, published earlier this year in the science journal PLOS One, suggests that genetic factors may be more important. While our genes are only thought to influence our chance of living to 85 by about 20 to 30 per cent, the Boston study suggests that they could play a far greater role in our survival chances into the late eighties and beyond.
When researchers scanned the genomes of 800 centenarians and compared them with similar samples from a control group, they identified 281 genetic variants that appeared to play a role in aging. These were grouped into 26 different “genetic signatures,” shared by 90 per cent of the centenarians in the trial.
In other words, while going to the gym and staying off cheeseburgers is all very well, your best chance of reaching 100 could simply be having a centenarian for a parent or grandparent.
Although there is no single “aging gene,” the genetic signatures revealed by the Boston study could yield “a better understanding of the genetic basis of delaying or escaping age-related diseases,” says Dr Thomas Perls, a lead author of the report and director of the New England Centenarian Study.
Every centenarian has a different story to tell, with some seemingly reaping the rewards of living a healthy life while others defy the years despite having, in some respects, outrageously unhealthy lifestyles.
As this cavalcade of centenarians past and present shows, there are almost as many ways to live to 100 as there are to die young.