There are many paths to living to 100

March 9, 2010 Mitch Potter
WASHINGTON BUREAU

Estimated per cent of environmental and behavioural factors in aging. Remaining 30 per cent is determined by genetics.

Average American lifespan for those who "take good care of themselves." It is estimated that a heavy combination of cigarettes, alcohol, red meat, stress and body fat mean death an average of 10 to 15 years sooner.

American reaches age 110 for every 7 million of population.

SOURCE: Dr. Thomas Perls, New England Centenarian Study director

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WASHINGTON–Living to 100 or beyond may still amount to life's great lottery. But new research suggests there are far more winning tickets out there than previously imagined.

U.S. scientists working to deepen their understanding of longevity say they have uncovered multiple genetic pathways to the century mark – an unexpected breadth of different variations and combination of genes that deliver the prize of triple-digit lifespans.

"There is still a tremendous amount to be learned. But what this suggests is rather dramatic – you and I can both win the lottery of living to 100 with different combinations of genes," said Dr. Thomas Perls, director of the Boston-based New England Centenarian Study.

"We each still need a pretty complicated combination of variations – genes that we suspect may slow down the rate of aging or allow people to escape disability until the very end," Perls told the Star.

"But the hope is that these results will help us understand the biology of healthy aging. The more we understand, the easier and more plausible it becomes to employ current or future medicines to allow people to delay or escape diseases and age more slowly."

Centenarians are currently the fastest-growing American age group, at 84,000 and counting. Some projections suggest their ranks will approach 1 million by 2050. In Canada, there are 6,000 people 100 or older, according to Canada's chief actuary, Jean-Claude Ménard.

Perls said the social ramifications of longer living range from a likely hike in the retirement age to the surfeit of age-related diseases waiting to strike those who neglect to control their weight, exercise or maintain healthy blood pressure.

"It makes the notion of retiring at 70 ridiculous. To me, people very active can still be working or volunteering, remaining involved.

"But we do see a huge, huge number of people getting into their 80s and 90s, where the risk for so many will be Alzheimer's disease."

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