title: Understanding the determinants of exceptional longevity.
abstract: Centenarians represent an extreme of life expectancy. They achieve their exceptional longevity in part by lacking genetic variations linked to premature death. Pedigree studies have shown a substantial familial component in the ability to survive to extreme old age, and a recent study demonstrated a locus on chromosome 4 linked to exceptional longevity, indicating the likely existence of at least one longevity-enabling gene in humans. The children of centenarians have markedly reduced relative risks for age-related diseases, particularly heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes, and are a promising model for genetic and phenotypic studies of 1) aging slowly relative to the general population and 2) the delay of and perhaps escape from important age-related diseases. These studies and those of other mammals and lower organisms show great promise for the delineation of important environmental and genetic determinants of aging well.
authors.affiliation: Geriatrics Section, Boston University Medical Center, 88 East Newton Street, Boston, MA 02118, USA. thperls@bu.edu
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Perls
authors.forename: Dellara
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Terry
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005796:Genes; D006801:Humans; D008017:Life Expectancy; D008136:Longevity; D010641:Phenotype