Overview

• Researchers analyzed two longitudinal studies of over 400,000 Swedes born between 1912 and 1922, tracking health records up to age 100.
• At age 85, only 4% of future centenarians had experienced a stroke compared with about 10% of individuals who died between ages 90 and 99.
• By age 100, centenarians’ heart attack rate was 12.5%, versus more than 24% among those who died in their 80s.
• Centenarians typically develop multiple conditions much later—around age 89—and are more likely to have illnesses confined to a single organ system, with sustained resilience to depression and dementia.
• The research team plans to investigate genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors that underlie this exceptional disease avoidance.