Centenarians are the fastest growing demographic of the world’s population – now a study of their blood shows how they differ from regular people

The number of Americans over 100 is expected to quadruple in the coming decades — and scientists are only beginning to understand what allows these super-agers to outlive most of us.

There will be an estimated 101,000 centenarians in the US in January 2024, and predictions from the Pew Research Center indicate that this number will more than quadruple to 422,000 in thirty years.

And it’s not as simple as a growing population, with centenarians currently making up just 0.03 percent of the total U.S. population and expected to reach 0.1 percent by 2054.

This small segment of the population emphasizes that centenarians are still rare, and scientists have been fascinated by centenarians for decades as they strive to understand how people can live longer and maintain better health.

A recent study looked at 12 blood-based biomarkers related to inflammation, metabolism, liver and kidney function, and possible anemia and malnutrition to understand what contributes to longer life.

Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm looked at data from 44,000 Swedish participants who underwent regular health assessments from ages 64 to 99 and were followed for up to 35 years to discover the secret to longevity.

Those who lived to be centenarians had lower glucose (sugar) in their bloodstream, as well as creatinine, which is related to how well the kidneys function, and uric acid (UA), a waste product caused by the digestion of certain foods.

Researchers found that participants with the lowest UA levels were four percent more likely to live to be 100 years old, while those with the highest UA levels had only a 1.5 percent chance.

The study says: ‘Although chance likely plays a role in reaching age 100, the differences in biomarker levels more than a decade before death suggest that genetic and/or lifestyle factors, reflected in these biomarker levels, may also play a role for an exceptional lifespan. ‘

The number of centenarians in the US is not declining, according to a Statista report that states the population of centenarians will increase by 70 percent, from 82,000 in 2016 to 589,000 in 2060.

The Pew Research Center reports that the world’s centennial population will increase to roughly four million over the next thirty years.

China is expected to account for the largest share of centenarians at 767,000, followed by the US, India, Japan and Thailand.

The study, published in GeroScience, reported that 1,224 people (2.8 percent) lived to be at least 100 years old, and the majority (85 percent) were women.

Researchers could not explain why women were more likely to reach their 100th birthday than men.

Researchers initially looked at individuals who had undergone clinical laboratory testing at the Central Automation Laboratories between 1985 and 1996 and followed the participants through the end of 2020.

The study used the National Patient Register to track disease diagnoses, the Cause of Death Register to identify the exact date a participant died, and the Total Population Registry to confirm that the participant was alive and living in Sweden.

The researchers used blood-based biomarkers to determine what leads to longevity by first identifying the levels of biomarkers present in both centenarians and non-centenarians.

They then looked at the association by which biomarkers are linked to people living to centenarians, by dividing the biomarkers into five groups: very low, low-medium, medium, high-medium and very high.

Data from the medium group was chosen as a reference model using 12 biomarkers, including biomarkers for uric acid, total cholesterol and glucose.

Contrary to clinical guidelines, the researchers found that centenarians had higher total cholesterol levels, but reported that this is consistent with previous studies showing that older people with high cholesterol can live to an older age.

Several studies have shown that high cholesterol levels in people over 60 may protect against cancer, infections and atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque in the artery walls) and are therefore associated with lower mortality rates.

Researchers also looked at Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT), which helps the liver convert food into energy, and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST), an enzyme found in the liver, heart, pancreas and muscles.

If AST is too high, it can indicate damage or inflammation to the liver, but researchers found that low AST levels reduce the chance of liver damage or fatty liver disease, thus contributing to the person’s longer lifespan.

Low levels of albumin have been found to prolong mortality by moving hormones, drugs, and vitamins through the body, low levels of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) help the liver break down drugs and toxins, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an indicator of how well the liver is functioning.

High ALP can be caused by increased alcohol consumption, and researchers found that people with normal levels had longer lifespans.

Normal ALP levels range from 44 to 147 international units per liter (IU/L), according to the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Centenarians had lower levels of creatinine, which determines whether their kidneys are adequately filtering waste from their blood, and had lower iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC), which circulate iron throughout the body, preventing anemia.

Finally, researchers looked at how albumin affected the nutritional levels of centenarians and non-centenarians and found that higher levels of nutrients in the body affect the person’s physical condition, increasing longevity.

The only biomarker that was the same for both centenarians and non-centenarians was Lactate Dehydrogenase (LD), which converts glucose into energy.

LD markers were outside the normal range for both groups, but researchers said this was likely due to aging and age-related health problems.

Researchers suggested that as people age, they should monitor how their liver and kidneys are functioning, monitor their glucose and uric acid levels, control their diet and reduce their alcohol intake.

The researchers clarified that they cannot draw a conclusion about which lifestyle or genetic traits are responsible for the biomarker results.

“That said, chance likely plays a role at some point in reaching an exceptional age,” the researchers said, adding: “But the fact that differences in biomarkers could be observed well before death suggests that genes and lifestyle can also play a role. role.’