Sardinian village where more women reach 100 may be new centenarian ‘blue zone’

 The secret to longevity is being a woman – specifically, a woman in one part of Sardinia. At least, that is the conclusion of a study on centenarians in a tiny mountain village on the Italian island.

Sardinia became known as a haven for longevity, especially for long-lived men, in 1999 when a cluster of remote villages nestled in the slopes of its central and eastern provinces were classified among the world’s five “blue zones” – geographic areas with high concentrations of centenarians.

Now Bolotana, located in the Margine area of central Sardinia about 70 miles (110km) from the island’s original blue zone, has emerged as a new potential candidate, researchers say, generating centenarians every year in a trend driven by women.

A study by professors at Sardinia’s University of Sassari and the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the US, published in the scientific journal Frontiers in Aging, found that 13.8% of women in the village who reach the age of 70 will live to 100 – placing it second in the world for female longevity after Hong Kong.

[to continue reading, here]

The lipid hypothesis: is it dead? Yes, it is!

                                                         My latest book where I am writing about statins, cholesterol and                                                                 why the lipid hypothesis is wrong

 

 

 

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One more paper on the cholesterol paradox / lipid hypothesis

The Cholesterol Paradox in Long-Livers from a Sardinia Longevity Hot Spot (Blue Zone)  

Conclusions: In the long-lived population examined, the cholesterol paradox was unlikely to be a reflection of reverse causality. Our results challenge the common view that longevity is invariably associated with low cholesterol levels. Furthermore, moderate hypercholesterolemia does not preclude the oldest adult from attaining advanced ages, contrary to common belief.

Keywords:

cholesterol paradox; blue zone; longevity; Sardinia; elderly

 

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We have written about the lipid hypothesis: in this paper : 

Inflammation, not Cholesterol, Is a Cause of Chronic Disease  

 

 

and also at this book:

Preventing Inflammation and Cardiovascular Diseases: How Food Polar Lipids Can Reduce Inflammation

Chapter Three ........................................................................................... 31
Why We Need to Re-Focus Away from Statins and Omega-3 Supplements
3.1 The demonization of cholesterol

 

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The lipid hypothesis is dead and it's high time for GPs to stop prescribing so freely statins.

 

My tips for living to 102: YouTube, gossip and Shredded Wheat

 

                                 Terry Tovey at home in Bristol, where he still grows his own vegetables

ADRIAN SHERRATT FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES

The number of centenarians in England and Wales has doubled in two decades. Terry Tovey, who was still a swimming coach at 88, reflects on how life has changedturned 102 in December, but living to such an old age means more to other people than it does to me. The way I see it, this year is just a continuation of what I did the year before. I’m still here and the years are piling up behind me.

I’m told more and more people are turning 100 these days and that’s got to be a good thing. It means people are healthier than they were 50 or a 100 years ago. Who wants to die early?

I don’t quite know why I’ve lasted so long, but my main motto in life is to do everything in moderation. I’ve never been a big smoker or a drinker. I was always slim and athletic too.

I get up about eight o’clock and do my morning exercises — I’ve done them ever since I was in the army. Once you get into a routine it’s easy. I sit on the corner of the bed and stretch my knees up to my chest and then use some small hand weights. The way I see it with your body is you either use it or you lose it.

I’ve had Shredded Wheat for breakfast for as long as I can remember. We’re creatures of habit, aren’t we? In the daytime I read books, often about the war, or I’ll go out and do some gardening. My children live locally and one of them will usually come round for a cup of tea and put some dinner on for me. I don’t know what I’d do without them really.

The worst thing about getting older is the loneliness. I’ve outlived all my friends but I had drifted away from most of my contemporaries anyway. I try not to think too much about it. I’ve been more family-orientated really, I’ve got six grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. They call me “Pops”. I can’t remember all of their names, but luckily I’ve got my children to remind me.

the rest of the story is here.

Terry Tovey with his granddaughter Jenny in the 1980s

Before the war

I was born on December 6, 1921, on College Street in central Bristol. We moved out to a cul-de-sac in the suburbs in 1926. We were happy there, all the neighbours knew each other and it was surrounded by fields. I felt like I had the whole country to play in.

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Ancient Greek longevity

(the following article is written by Prof R Luduena @ Health Science Center, Univ. of Texas)

Obviously, many Greeks in the old days were very productive when they were very old.  For instance, Sophocles wrote Oedipus at Colonus when he was about 90 years old.  Of course, this is only anecdotal evidence.  He could have been very exceptional.  Unfortunately, we do not have longevity data or data about elderly people's mental and physical function from ancient Greece.

Or do we?  

It occurred to me that there were some unusual events in ancient Greece which indicate that people were used to the concept of people living very long and productive lives.  My lecture had about 4 examples:

1.  Sophocles.  When he was about 80, the Athenians elected him to be part of a committee of 10 or so to govern the city and perhaps revise the constitution during the Peloponnesian War, which Athens was losing at the time.  We do not elect octogenarians to positions of power in a crisis unless we figure that their age is not relevant.

2. Agesilaus, King of Sparta.  When he was 80, he was hired by a rebel pharaoh in Egypt to fight against the Persians.  When he arrived in Egypt, the Pharaoh changed his mind because Agesilaus limped, wore dirty clothes and was rude.  However, other candidates for Pharaoh competed to hire him.  Obviously, you don't fight to elect an 80-year-old general to lead you in a war where death by torture is the penalty for losing unless you don't think his age matters.  

Also, Spartan kings were expected to lead from the front, wielding their swords, not just strategize in a tent.

3.  Timoleon of Corinth.  The Syracusans engaged him when he was 70 years of age to fight against the Carthaginians and free their land from tyranny.  

4.  Isocrates.  The enemies of Demosthenes engaged him when he was 90 to debate Demosthenes on the question of resistance to Macedonia.  He continued traveling around Greece giving speeches until he was 100.

Clearly, their contemporaries did not consider that the age of these individuals was an impediment.  Therefore, they must have been used to people living functional and productive lives well into their 80s or beyond.  What was the secret?

Not genes, the ancient Greeks were too divergent.  Diet is an attractive possibility except that the Spartan diet was terrible: "black soup" made from duck fat and blood and other ingredients.  Worth looking into further, I think. 

Exercise was a factor.  The topography of Greece was and is everywhere very rough.  If you look at the elevations of the Acropolis, Areopagus and Agora, you will see that the average Athenian could not go about his daily business without doing a huge amount of exercise.  Lacedaimon was flatter but the Spartans were constantly exercising as part of their military drill.

is this the right message?

A study of over 300 species of molluscs that have lived and died in the Atlantic over the past five million years found that those with high metabolisms were the most likely to be extinct. Photograph: Alamy

Forget ‘survival of the fittest’, it is more like ‘survival of the laziest’, or at least ‘survival of the sluggish’

Bruce Lieberman, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology

these words appear here.

With this message going across the globe, can we hope that obesity and related diseases will ever decrease?

In any case, humans' metabolism is so so different to molluscs'...

Why Greek mountain villagers have healthy hearts?

Scientists have pinpointed one reason why people living in isolated villages in Greece may enjoy long and healthy lives.

They found a new genetic variant, common among villagers, which appears to protect the heart by lowering levels of "bad" fats and cholesterol.
Despite a diet rich in animal fat, the people of Mylopotamos in northern Crete do not suffer from cardiovascular disease.
And they really love their cheese.

What's special about these Greek villages?

[read the full report here]

The paper is here