What do centenarians have in common?
While centenarians can vary widely in terms of socioeconomic status, ethnicity, religion, years of education and patterns of diet, they tend to have some characteristics in common, according to the Boston University School of Medicine’s New England Centenarian Study (NECS), the largest comprehensive study of centenarians in the world. The study found that: — Few centenarians are obese. And in the case of men, they are nearly always lean. — A substantial smoking history is rare. — Centenarians are better able to handle stress. — Many (30 per cent) experience no significant changes in their thinking abilities, disproving the expectation by many that all centenarians would suffer from dementia. (See Brain boosters and Hip at 100.) — Many centenarian women gave birth after the age of 35 and even 40. A woman who naturally has a child after the age of 40 has a 4-times greater chance of living to 100 compared to women who do not. (Bearing a child in one’s forties may indicate that the wo
