factors, but the roles of each of these factors are still unclear. Studying these individuals could help us understand the factors that contribute to long, healthy lives," said Evan Hadley, M.D., NIA Associate Director for Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology.
Previously, in an analysis of a smaller cluster of families, Dr. Perls and his colleagues found that siblings of centenarians have a four times greater chance of living into their early 90s than the general population. Other studies have also found familial patterns of exceptional longevity. Although these familial clusterings might be related to environmental or socioeconomic factors, there is evidence that genetic effects are important, too. University of Utah researchers found brothers, sisters and other first-degree relatives of the long-lived tend to live longer lives than cousins and other more distant relatives, suggesting that a small number of genes might influence exceptional longevity. In 2001, Dr. Perls and his colleagues found a region on chromosome 4 that is "highly suggestive" of genetic predisposition to exceptional longevity.
Further studies are being conducted in an attempt to replicate this linkage in other populations. Some studies suggest that exceptionally long-lived people may transmit unusually good protection against major diseases of aging to their children, and that these protective factors are evident in these offspring well before they reach extreme age. Investigators have discovered, for instance, that 60- and 70-year-old children of centenarians may be less prone to cardiovascular disease because they have high levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol and low levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol. Identifying and characterizing these and other familial patterns are key steps in
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Contact: Doug Dollemore
dollemod@nia.nih.gov
301-496-1752
NIH/National Institute on Aging
10-Jun-2002