A recent study published in the GeroScience magazine revealed a link between high cholesterol and glucose levels and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, to fully understand how longevity is achieved, other factors such as genes and lifestyle must be taken into account.
This research is one of the largest to date comparing biomarker profiles in people who have reached adulthood with people younger than them. The study collected data from 44,000 Swedes aged 64–99 years in examining the factors influencing longevity and good health. Observing these people for 35 years, the research found that 2.7% of them lived to be 100 years old. Moreover, the vast majority of these centenarians (about 85%) were women.
The study found that people who reached the age of one hundred generally had lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid starting in their sixties. The median values of most other biomarkers among centenarians and non-centenarians were not significantly different. However, extremely high or low values of these indicators were rarely observed in long livers. For example, very few centenarians had glucose levels above 6.5 or creatinine levels above 125.
Women have been living longer than men for a long time, but a global review of mortality data from 1990 to 2010 shows that the gender gap is gradually narrowing.
Photos are from open sources.
