Re: Supercentenarians¡ªwho are they?

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

See the below for the most important, I believe, data from the report that is

pdf-availed.

choenhofen EA, Wyszynski DF, Andersen S, Pennington J, Young R, Terry DF, Perls

TT.

Characteristics of 32 supercentenarians.

J Am Geriatr Soc. 2006 Aug;54(8):1237-40.

PMID: 16913991 http://tinyurl.com/njek7

Table 2. Sociodemographic, Medical, and Functional Characteristics of 32

Supercentenarians

======================================

Characteristic Value

======================================

Age, mean ¡À SD (range) 111 ¡À 2 (110¨C119)

Sex, n (%)

Female 27 (84)

Male 5 (16)

Education, years, n (%)

¡Ü8 17 (53)

9¨C12 8 (25)

13¨C17 7 (19)

¡Ý18 0 (0)

Education, years, mean ¡À SD 10 ¡À 4 (0)

Race, n (%)

Caucasian 28 (88)

Other 4 (12)

Place of birth, n (%)

Australia 2 (7)

Canada (Prince Island) 1 (3)

Germany 1 (3)

Ireland 1 (3)

Morocco 1 (3)

United States 26 (81)

Grandparents' ethnicity, n (%)

Danish 1 (3)

English 10 (31)

English/Dutch 1 (3)

English/German 1 (3)

English/Irish/ish 1 (3)

English/French 1 (3)

French 1 (3)

German 4 (12)

German/Spanish 1 (3)

Irish 1 (3)

Irish/German 1 (3)

Irish/Canadian/French 1 (3)

Norwegian/German 1 (3)

ish 1 (3)

ish/English 1 (3)

Spanish 1 (3)

Unknown 4 (12)

Living situation, n (%)

With family 5 (17)

Assisted living 5 (17)

Nursing home 19 (65)

Missing data 3 (1)

Medical history, n (%)

Myocardial infarction 2 (6)

Cardiac arrhythmia 1 (3)

Pacemaker inserted 0 (0)

Angina pectoris 0 (0)

Stroke 4 (13)

Treated hypertension 7 (22)

Adult-onset diabetes mellitus 1 (3)

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease 0 (0)

Hypothyroidism 5 (16)

Other thyroid condition 2 (6)

Osteoporosis 14 (44)

Cataract 28 (88)

Parkinson's disease 1 (3)

Cancer 8 (25)

Bladder 1 (3)

Breast 2 (6)

Colon 2 (6)

Skin 2 (6)

Unknown 1 (3)

Functional status (Barthel Index score), n (%)

Totally dependent (<20) 3 (9)

Very dependent (20¨C39) 10 (31)

Partially dependent (40¨C59) 6 (19)

Requires minimal assistance (60¨C79) 8 (25)

Independent (80¨C100) 5 (16)

--- bill4cr <bill4cr@...> wrote:

> Living to be 100 isn't as rare as it used to be. It is now

> supercentenarians¡ªindividuals aged 110 and older--who are making

> headlines. In the August, 2006 issue of The Journal of the American

> Geriatrics Society, T Perls, MD, MPH of Boston University

> Medical Center and colleagues report the health characteristics of

> these long lived individuals, and reveal that a surprisingly

> substantial portion were still functioning independently at the time

> of the study.

>

> Dr Perls' team analyzed 32 individuals between the ages of 110 and 119

> who make up half of the supercentenarians living in the United States.

> Twenty-seven of the participants were women. The 119 year old

> participant was the oldest documented living person in the world at

> the time of enrollment.

>

> Five subjects were able to function independently, 8 with minimal

> assistance, and 6 with partial assistance. Thirteen were classified

> as very or totally dependent. One-fourth of the subjects had a

> history of cancer, all of whom were cured. Only one participant was

> diabetic and one had Parkinson's disease. Osteoporosis was more

> common, with 44 percent suffering from the disease, and the majority

> of the group had experienced cataracts. A predominant feature was the

> near-absence of vascular disease. Only two participants had a history

> of heart attack, and four had had strokes. Seven were taking

> antihypertensive drugs.

>

> The authors observed that the onset of functional decline and

> age-related disease is delayed among centenarians, and hypothesized

> that the same delay must be extended at least to the age of 100 to

> enable a person to reach supercentenarian status. " By virtue of their

> likely ability to markedly delay or escape age-related illnesses and

> frailty and their probable sharing of traits that enable such

> exceptional survival, supercentenarians are likely to be an important

> resource for discovering environmental, behavioral, and genetic

> factors that predispose to longevity and decreased susceptibility to

> vascular and other lethal diseases associated with aging, " they conclude.

-- Al Pater, PhD; email: old542000@...

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