What are the biomarkers that protect against mortality? A large Swedish study found notable differences in glucose and total cholesterol levels between centenarians and others.
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A new study focused on identifying the differences between individuals who become centenarians and those with shorter longevity. The results published in the journal GeroScience suggest a potential link between metabolic health, nutrition and exceptional longevity, through biomarkers such as cholesterol and glucose levels.
“ Nonagenarians and centenarians have long been of interest to scientists because they can help us understand how to live longer, and perhaps also how to age healthier. », explains Karin Modig for The Conversation. But centenarians now constitute the fastest growing demographic group in the world (their numbers have doubled every ten years since the 1970s). “ Until now, studies of centenarians have often been carried out on a small scale and focused on a selected group, excluding for example centenarians living in care homes », continues the professor.
Up to 35 years of follow-up
Including data from more than 44,000 Swedes, the study is the largest to date to compare biomarker profiles measured across the lifespan in people who eventually become centenarians and their peers who live shorter lives. It aimed to describe and compare these biomarker profiles at similar ages, in a range between 64 and 99 years. She also studied the association between a set of biomarkers and the chance of reaching age 100, with up to 35 years of follow-up.
More than 1,200 study participants are over 100 years old, 85% of whom are women. Twelve blood biomarkers linked to inflammation, metabolismmetabolism, liver and kidney functions (as well as potential malnutrition and anemia) were taken into account. Previous studies have already linked these elements to aging or mortality.
The importance of genetic factors and lifestyle
Higher levels of total cholesterol and ironironas well as lower levels of glucose, creatininecreatinine and D’Uric acidUric acid have been associated with becoming a centenarian. Already from the age of 65, centenarians showed more favorable biomarker values in commonly available biomarkers than people dying before the age of 100. According to the researchers, these differences in biomarker values between centenarians and non-centenarians more than a decade before death suggest that genetic and lifestyle factors visualized in these biomarker levels may play an important role in becoming centenary. However, the study does not allow conclusions to be drawn about lifestyle factors or GenoaGenoa responsible for the biomarker values.
Finally, the differences observed for certain biomarkers remained small. “ For uric acid, for example, the absolute difference was 2.5 percentage points. This means that people in the group with the lowest uric acid had a 4% chance of reaching 100 years old while in the group with the highest uric acid levels, only 1.5% reached 100 years old. », reports Karin Modig.