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A centenarian is a person who has attained the age of 100 years or more. Senescence refers to the biological processes of a living Organism approaching an advanced age (i A year (from Old English gēr) is the time between two recurrences of an event related to the Orbit of the Earth around the Sun Because current average life expectancies across the world are less than 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. Life expectancy is the average number of years of life remaining at a given age The word longevity is sometimes used as a synonym for " Life expectancy " in Demography. Much rarer, a supercentenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more, something only achieved by one in a thousand centenarians. A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is someone who has reached the age of 110 Years or more something achieved by only one in

Contents

Current incidence

The United States currently has the greatest number of centenarians in the world, numbering over 55,000 in the year 2005. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The U. S. number is partly a function of America's large population in 1890-1905, and an increased emphasis on long-term care facilities. Long-term care (LTC is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical need of people with a Chronic illness or Disability who cannot

Japan is second, with 30,000. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. [1] Many experts attribute this (and Japan's very high life expectancy) to the Japanese diet, which is particularly low in fats. Life expectancy is the average number of years of life remaining at a given age This article is primarily about the human diet For a discussion of animal diets see List of feeding behaviours. However, relatively (per capita) higher number of Americans make it to 100 than do Japanese. In addition, five times as many Okinawans live to be 100 than the rest of Japan. is one of Japan 's southern prefectures, and consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over 1000 km long which extends southwest from Kyūshū [2]

The Island of Barbados however has the second-highest occurrence of centenarians in the world. Barbados ( Portuguese word for bearded-ones, bɑrˈbeɪdoʊz -dɒs situated just east of the Caribbean Sea, is an independent Island nation

Traditions

Centenarians in ancient times

While the density of centenarians per capita was much less in ancient times than today, the data suggest that reaching the age of 100 was not impossible then. Though ancient demographics are biased in favor of wealthy or powerful individuals rather than the ordinary person, it is unscientific to suggest that "ordinary persons" lived longer. Grmek and Gourevitch speculate that during the Classical Greek Period, anyone who made it past the age of five years — surviving all the common childhood illness of that day — had a reasonable chance of living to a ripe old age. Life expectancy at 400 B.C. was estimated to be around 30 years of age. Events By place Persian Empire Artaxerxes II King of Persia appoints Tissaphernes to take over all the districts in One demographer of ancient civilizations reported that Greek men lived to 45 years (based on a sample size of 91), while women lived to 36. 2 years (based on a sample size of 55). Curiously, the gender statistics are inverted compared to today, since child-birth was a much more traumatic experience at that time than now, and it certainly skewed female statistics downward. It was common for average citizens to take great care in their hygiene (sanitation), Mediterranean diet (fish, figs, olive oil, wine, etc. ), and exercise program (sports/gymnasium), although there was much more male trauma per capita than today, due to military service being virtually universal for citizens. This also biased the statistics for men downward. [4]

Diogenes Laertius (c. Diogenes Laërtius ( Greek:, Diogénes Laértios) the biographer of the Greek Philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname 250) gives the earliest (or at least one of the earliest) references about (plausible centenarian) longevity given by a scientist, the astronomer Hipparchus of Nicea (c. Hipparchus ( Greek; ca 190 BC &ndash ca 120 BC was a Greek Astronomer, Geographer, and Mathematician of the Hellenistic 185 – c. 120 B. C. ), who, according to the doxographer, assured that the philosopher Democritus of Abdera (c. Democritus ( Greek:) was a pre-Socratic Greek Materialist Philosopher (born at Abdera in Thrace ca 470/460 – c. 370/360 B. C. ) lived 109 years. All other accounts about Democritus given by the ancients appear to agree in the fact that the philosopher lived over 100 years. Such longevity would not be dramatically out of line with that of other ancient Greek philosophers thought to have lived beyond the age of 90 (e. g. : Xenophanes of Colophon, c. Xenophanes of Colophon ( Greek ( 570 – 480 BC was a Greek Philosopher, Poet, and social and religious Critic. 570/565 – c. 475/470 B. C. ; Pyrrho of Ellis, c. Pyrrho (ca 360 BC - ca 270 BC a Greek Philosopher of Classical antiquity, is credited as being the first Skeptic philosopher and the inspiration 360 - c. 270 B. C. ; Eratosthenes of Cirene c. Eratosthenes of Cyrene ( Greek; 276 BC - 194 BC was a Greek Mathematician, Poet, athlete, Geographer and 285 – c. 190 B. C. , etc. ). The case of Democritus differs from the case of, for example, Epimenides of Crete (VII, VI centuries B. Epimenides of Knossos ( Crete) (Greek) was a semi- mythical 6th century BC Greek seer and Philosopher - poet C. ) who is said to have lived an implausible 154, 157 or 290 years, depending on the source.

The sixth dynasty Egyptian ruler Pepi II is believed by some Egyptologists to have lived to the age of 100 or more (c. The Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the title " Old Kingdom " Pepi II (reigned c 2278 BC–c 2184 BC was a Pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty in Egypt's Old Kingdom. 2278 BC - c. 2184 BC), as he ruled for 94 years. [5] However this is under dispute, as others claim the date should actually be 64 years. [6]

The Indian Sufi poet, Kabir (1398-1518?) is believed by some to have lived to an unnatural age of 120 while others believe that he lived for not more than 80 years.

Ultimately, there is no reason to believe that there could not have been a few individuals who were centenarians 2500 years ago, even if they were not commonplace. [7]

Hosius of Córdoba, the man who convinced Constantine the Great to call the First Council of Nicaea, reportedly lived to age 102. Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus (27 February ca. 272 &ndash 22 May 337 commonly known as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or Saint Constantine The First Council of Nicaea, held in Nicaea in Bithynia (present-day İznik in Turkey) convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine

Future of centenarians in the United States

The Huffington Center on Aging at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston is another source for information about centenarians.

As reported on the front cover of USA Today of August 24, 1999, The U. USA TODAY is a national American daily Newspaper published by the Gannett Company. Events 49 BC - Julius Caesar 's General Gaius Scribonius Curio is defeated in the Second Battle of the Bagradas River Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) S. Census Bureau has forecast that the number of Americans aged 100 or older will increase by more than 22 times the 1990 estimate of 37,306. In October 2001, the US Census Bureau actually reported that there were 50,454 US centenarians (a more reasonable 35 percent increase) out of a total population of 281. October 2001: January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - 4 million Americans. The Allstate insurance company reported that, in 2007, the Hallmark company sold approximately 85,000 "Happy 100th Birthday!" cards. But by 2050, "the number of US centenarians is expected to reach 834,000 and maybe even 1 million," said Dr. Robert Butler, President of the International Longevity Center in New York City. The City of New York

From present data, the number of worldwide centenarians is around 450,000. However, if one considers only the total number of supercentenarians, this number falls dramatically to an estimated 300 to 450 worldwide, of which only approximately 80 are validated. [8] Only one person, Jeanne Calment, has been indisputably proven to have lived 122 years. Jeanne Louise Calment (ʒan lwiz kalˈmɑ̃ February 21, 1875  – August 4, 1997) She lived in Arles, France Shigechiyo Izumi's claim of having reached 120 years is disputed. was a Japanese Supercentenarian and according to Guinness World Records, became the person with the greatest authenticated age in the world after Despite the fact that there are a large number of pretenders from other countries, these claimants have never been rigorously validated by means of the sort of documentation that would be sufficient to prove their claim (birth certificates, baptismal certificates, marriage certificates, and so forth). However, record keeping was never rigorous before the age of data processing. Persons born at home in rural areas were considered fortunate if they had a family Bible to record their birthdate, let alone the correct spelling of the parents' names, their ages at the time, etc.

The Social Security Administration extended the life expectancy tables up to age 119 in 2005. [9] In the course of the last four decades, the number of people reaching 100 has increased almost tenfold, so that now one in fifty women and one in two hundred men reach that age. This fact, in addition to the increase in birth and immigration of younger cohorts, leads to common errors in interpreting life expectancy.

Research into centenarians

Research carried out in Italy suggests that healthy centenarians have high levels of vitamin A and vitamin E and that this seems to be important in guaranteeing their extreme longevity. Vitamin A refers to a family of similarly shaped molecules the Retinoids. See also Tocopherol, Tocotrienol Vitamin E is the collective name for a set of 8 related Tocopherols and Tocotrienols which are fat-soluble [10] Other research contradicts this, however, and has found that these findings do not apply to centenarians from Sardinia, for whom other factors probably play a more important role. Sardinia (sɑrˈdɪnɪə Sardegna Sardigna or Sardinnya is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily) [11] A preliminary study carried out in Poland showed that, in comparison with young healthy female adults, centenarians living in Upper Silesia had significantly higher red blood cell glutathione reductase and catalase activities and higher, although insignificantly, serum levels of vitamin E. Upper Silesia (Horní Slezsko Oberschlesien Latin: Silesia Superior; Górny Śląsk Silesian: Gůrny Ślůnsk) is the southeastern part Glutathione reductase, also known as GSR, is a human Gene. The Protein encoded by this gene is an Enzyme ( which reduces Glutathione Catalase is a common Enzyme found in nearly all living organisms where it functions to catalyze the decomposition of Hydrogen peroxide to See also Tocopherol, Tocotrienol Vitamin E is the collective name for a set of 8 related Tocopherols and Tocotrienols which are fat-soluble [12] Researchers in Denmark have also found that centenarians exhibit a high activity of glutathione reductase in red blood cells. Glutathione reductase, also known as GSR, is a human Gene. The Protein encoded by this gene is an Enzyme ( which reduces Glutathione In this study, those centenarians having the best cognitive and physical functional capacity tended to have the highest activity of this enzyme. Enzymes are Biomolecules that catalyze ( ie increase the rates of Chemical reactions Almost all enzymes are Proteins [13]

Numbers of centenarians

Country Centenarians (year) Centenarians (year) Centenarians (year) Centenarians (year) Percent over 65
China 17,800 (2007)[14] - - - 7. 9%
USA 50,454 (2000) 37,306 (1990) - - 13%
Japan 32,295 (2007)[15] 28,395 (2006) 1,000 (1981) 153 (1963) 22. 3%
England+Wales 9,000 (2007)[16] 8,370 (2005) 7,100 (6-2002) 100 (1911) 16%

See also

References

  1. ^ Centenarians in Japan soon to exceed 30,000 for first time | The Japan Times Online
  2. ^ National Geographic magazine, June 1993
  3. ^ ireland.com - Breaking News - Centenarians abroad to get birthday bonus
  4. ^ Mirko Grmek and Danielle Gourevitch, Illness in Antiquity (Fayard; 1998)
  5. ^ A Short History of Egypt: Part I: From the Predynastic Period to the Old Kingdom
  6. ^ The Ancient Egypt site - Pepi II
  7. ^ Olivier Postel-Vinay, "Histoire Le Cas de la Grece Antique," La Recherche Special -- Vivre 120 Ans, Vol. The longest unambiguously documented lifespan of a person is that of Jeanne Calment of France (1875–1997 who died aged 122 years and 164 days Queensland Community Care Network Inc (QCCN is a charity organisation based in Queensland, Australia. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural Year 1993 ( MCMXCIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar) 322, p. 90 (Paris; July-August 1999). Note: La Recherche is the French equivalent of Scientific American in the English-speaking world.
  8. ^ Table E, as of June 11, 2003
  9. ^ Actuarial Life Table
  10. ^ 'Plasma antioxidants and longevity: a study on healthy centenarians.' Free Radic Biol Med. 2000 Apr 15;28(8):1243-8. Published 2000. Accessed October 6, 2007. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  11. ^ 'Different antioxidant profiles in Italian centenarians: the Sardinian peculiarity.' Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Jul;61(7):922-4. Epub 2007 Jan 17. Published July 2007. Accessed October 6, 2007. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  12. ^ 'Antioxidant defense in centenarians (a preliminary study).' Acta Biochim Pol. 2000;47(2):281-92. Published 2000. Accessed October 6, 2007. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  13. ^ 'Low activity of superoxide dismutase and high activity of glutathione reductase in erythrocytes from centenarians.' Age Ageing. 1998 Sep;27(5):643-8. Published 1998. Accessed October 6, 2007. Events 105 BC - Battle of Arausio: The Cimbri inflict the heaviest defeat on the Roman army of Gnaeus Mallius Maximus Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  14. ^ China News
  15. ^ Centenarians in Japan soon to exceed 30,000 for first time | The Japan Times Online
  16. ^ More centenarians in England and Wales than ever before | UK news | The Guardian

External links

Dictionary

centenarian

-noun

  1. One who is at least 100 years old. One who is past his or her tenth decade.

-adjective

  1. Being at least 100 years old. Beyond one's tenth decade.
  2. Of or related to a centenarian.
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