According to a new Swedish study, centenarians stay healthier than others. Researchers from the Karolinska Institute have looked at people born between 1920 and 1922, a total of over 270,000 individuals. These were followed from the age of 70 and the researchers could see that those who lived to 100 did not just live, they were also healthier than those who died earlier.
Many elderly people quickly accumulate several diagnoses during their last years of life. But for centenarians, the disease burden seems to level out from the age of 90. They more often have diseases that are limited to a specific organ system and less comorbidity.
According to the study, which is published in eClinicalMedicine, cardiovascular diseases are less common and occur later in life in centenarians than in others. The very oldest simply seem to age in a different way than others.
"We show that exceptional longevity is not just about postponing ill health. The results suggest that centenarians have a resistance to disease despite aging and physiological stress - something that may be due to a favorable combination of genes, lifestyle, and environment", says Karin Modig, associate professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute and one of the researchers behind the study, in a press release.
