Parental Longevity and the Science Behind Healthy Aging
post by BU-SHARP Writing Fellow Lindsay Griesman
As life expectancies increase and people live longer, researchers are increasingly interested in not just how we live, but how long we can do so in good health. People who live to 100 years or older are known as centenarians, and they offer researchers a unique opportunity to better understand the factors that may contribute to healthy aging and extreme longevity. Despite life expectancies rebounding to higher years, centenarians remain remarkably rare, making up just 0.03% of the US population in 2024.
One strategy researchers can use to learn more about healthy aging is to study the children of centenarians. If having a parent who lives to be 100 is associated with living longer or developing age-related diseases later, researchers can investigate which biological and environmental factors might contribute to this pattern, and relate their findings to actionable change to reduce the incidence of disease or delay the onset of age-related diseases.
A recent study published in JAMA Network Open examined this question, using three longitudinal studies: the LonGenity Study, the New England Centenarian Study (NECS), and the UK Biobank. Researchers compared people who had at least one parent who lived to age 100 with control participants whose parents had shorter lifespans. Across the three studies, researchers examined mortality and four age-related health conditions: cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer, hypertension, and stroke.
The researchers found that offspring of centenarians had lower risk of death, CVD, and hypertension compared with controls. Their risk of death was 42% lower, while their risks of CVD and hypertension were 33% and 32% lower, respectively. The age at death was delayed by about three years, while the onset of hypertension was delayed by approximately five years. No significant association was found between parental longevity and cancer.
BU Researchers Studying Exceptional Longevity
The New England Centenarian Study (NECS), one of the data sets featured in this study, has tracked centenarians and their families since 1995 and has been based at Boston University since 2002. Stacy L. Andersen, PhD, and Thomas T. Perls, MD, MPH, of Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine are co-directors.
The NECS is one of the largest studies of centenarians and their families, having recruited and assessed over 4,000 individuals to date. Through this research, Andersen, Perls, and their collaborators investigate why some people are able to live exceptionally long lives while delaying or avoiding many of the diseases commonly associated with aging.
So far, the team has determined that exceptional longevity runs in families and that there is a genetic influence upon survival which increases with ages of survival beyond ages 90-99. This genetic influence likely consists of a plethora of genetic variations with insignificant individual effects but as a group, have a strong effect.
Help BU Recruit Centenarians for the Study
If you know a centenarian, Please contact the NECS toll-free at 1-888-333-6327 or by email at agewell@bu.edu. You can also reach the Principal Investigator, Tom Perls MD, MPH at thperls@bu.edu.