Live Past 100: Secret To Long, Healthy Life Found In Centenarians' Blood

Once considered rare, centenarians are now common to find. They are the fastest-growing demographic group of the world¡¯s population, with numbers roughly doubling every ten years since the 1970s.

For as long as people have been living and dying, explorers have searched for a mythical ¡°Fountain of Youth.¡± While nobody ever found that, medical experts believe they¡¯ve found longevity clues much closer to home: in our blood.

centenarian

What's happening?

New research reveals that the blood of people who¡¯ve lived over 100 years has certain similarities: specifically, they have lower levels of three key compounds. Centenarians tend to have lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid from their sixties onwards, according to the largest study of its kind that may lead to a simple blood test to predict a person¡¯s chance of reaching 100.

¡°Those who made it to their hundredth birthday tended to have lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid from their 60s onwards,¡± co-author Dr. Karin Modig, associate professor at Sweden¡¯s Karolinska Institutet, wrote in the Conversation.

¡°Very few of the centenarians had a glucose level above 6.5 earlier in life, or a creatinine level above 125,¡± she added. High creatinine levels can indicate kidney problems, and uric acid is linked to inflammation. High levels of glucose (or blood sugar) can lead to diabetes.

Researchers also looked at albumin and iron levels in the blood. Except for a liver enzyme and albumin, all other molecules were found linked to the likelihood of a person becoming a centenarian.

Those with increased levels of total cholesterol and iron had a greater likelihood of becoming centenarians compared to those with lower levels.

centenarian

Where and when?

The research, published on Monday in the journal GeroScience, is the biggest to date to measure and follow up the levels of different molecules in the blood of people born between 1893 and 1920.

Who was researched upon?

A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100 years. The term is invariably associated with longevity.

They focused specifically on people born between 1893 and 1920, who were between 64 and 99 years old when their blood samples were first tested, and followed them up for up to 35 years as they grew closer to 100 years of age. About 1,200 individuals in the study, or about 2.7 per cent of the participants, reached 100.

centenarian

And, how?

Scientists, including those from Karolinska Institutet, assessed the data on blood molecules from over 44,500 Swedes who underwent clinical testing between 1985 and 1996 and followed up till 2020.

Why did these people lived past 100?

¡°While chance likely plays a role for reaching age 100, the differences in biomarker values more than one decade prior death suggest that genetic and/or lifestyle factors, reflected in these biomarker levels may also play a role for exceptional longevity,¡± scientists wrote in the study.

¡°However, it is reasonable to think that factors such as nutrition and alcohol intake play a role. Keeping track of your kidney and liver values, as well as glucose and uric acid as you get older, is probably not a bad idea,¡± they said.

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