Everything gets better with age.
Feeling 40 at 80, with no higher risk of disease, your body still strong, and your zest for life intact—longevity certainly has its appeal.
And one study found that some people may live longer if their parents possess a rare trait that only around 100,000 people have.
The longevity dream may have been co-opted by biohackers, tech moguls and the rich, but even those without cash to spare can increase their lifespan through factors like lifestyle habits and genetics.
As of 2024, the average American can expect to live to 74. But how many trips around the sun parents took could play a big role in how long their children live.
Analyzing data from 4,030 participants’ offspring, the research found they exhibited significantly delayed onset of mortality and reduced risk of age-related diseases.
The common factor amongst the offspring? Their parents were centenarians, living past the age of 100.
Published in the JAMA Network Open journal, the study looked at three independent longitudinal cohorts: LonGenity, consisting of people in the New York City area; the New England Centenarian Study of those throughout the US; and the UK Biobank of people throughout the UK.
The researchers compared offspring who had at least one parent who reached the age of 100 and those who had one parent who died by the age of 73.
Participants were between 65 and 74 years of age.
The research team looked at differences in how old the offspring were when they died, as well as the onset of four diseases associated with aging — cardiovascular disease, cancer, high blood pressure and stroke.
Compared to children whose parents had shorter lifespans, the kids of the centenarians had the lowest risk of developing cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and early death earlier in life.
Centenarians have long offered a way to study what promotes good health and the delayed onset of age-related diseases.
Prior research has shown that they frequently develop diseases like diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and dementia nearly three decades later than the general population, while some never develop these illnesses.
However, much of this research focused on a limited population, prompting researchers to conduct a more comprehensive and geographically diverse study.
Only an estimated 101,000 centenarians — 0.03% of the US population — hit the 100th birthday mark.
The reason why some blow out more candles on their birthday cake may be in our blood, with evidence that centenarians age differently on a molecular level.
This research further promotes using this group as a research model to identify factors that promote healthy aging, while making clear the underlying genetic and environmental mechanisms.
