Largest study among centenarians reveals secrets of longevity

A team of scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, conducted the largest study on centenarians, published in the journal GeroScience on Sept. 19, 2023. Experts have revealed the longevity secrets of people who have reached the age of 100 years old. According to the largest study of its kind, centenarians tend to have lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid from the age of 60 because of their healthy lifestyle. According to these studies, a simple blood test could be enough to predict the likelihood of a person reaching age 100.

According to Yahoo News, the research is the largest to date to measure and monitor levels of various molecules in the blood of people born between 1893 and 1920.

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm evaluated blood molecule data from more than 44,500 Swedes who underwent clinical trials between 1985 and 1996 and continued through 2020.

They focused particularly on people born between 1893 and 1920, who were between 64 and 99 years old when their blood samples were first analyzed, and followed them as they approached age for 100 years.

About 1,200 people involved in the study, or about 2.7 percent of the participants, reached the age of 100. The researchers compared the data from this analysis with those of their peers younger than themselves.

The research uncovered 12 molecules associated with metabolism, inflammation, as well as liver and kidney function, which had also been linked to aging or mortality in previous studies.

These molecules included total cholesterol and glucose as indicators of metabolism, uric acid for levels of inflammation, enzymes as indicators of liver health, and creatinine as a measure of kidney health.

The researchers also looked at albumin and iron levels in the blood. With the exception of one liver enzyme and albumin, all other molecules were found to correlate with a person's likelihood of becoming a centenarian.
Centenarians had good genetic factors
Those with high levels of total cholesterol and iron were more likely to become centenarians than those with lower levels. However, for molecules including glucose, creatinine, uric acid and liver enzymes, lower levels were associated with a greater chance of living past 100 years.

"We found that, in general, those who reached age 100 tended to have lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid from age 60," the researchers wrote.

"Many few centenarians had a glucose level above 6.5 early in life or a creatinine level above 125," they said.

Although in some cases the differences between the groups found in the study were small, the researchers said the findings still suggest a "potential link" between metabolism, nutrition and longevity.

"While chance probably plays a role in reaching age 100, the differences in biomarker values more than a decade before death suggest that genetic and/or healthy lifestyle factors reflected in these biomarker levels may also play a role for exceptional longevity, " the scientists said in the study.

"However, it stands to reason that factors such as diet and alcohol consumption play a role. Monitoring kidney and liver health, as well as glucose and uric acid as we age, is a good idea," they said.