When most people think about living long, living to the age of 100 or more is not usually what they have in mind. And believe it or not, nor was it likely expected of most centenarians either.

But when you are among the longest-lived people on the planet, you are routinely asked how it happened. Most of them are as surprised as anyone that they’ve lived as long as they have, and rarely do they have any idea how they did it.

It’s certainly an intriguing topic, with both a fast growing group of people to study and experts ready to report the findings. It’s estimated 85K centenarians populate the United States today, and it’s expected that number will explode to over 150K within the next ten years and well into the millions as the baby boomers get on deck. The U.S. Census projects that we will exceed more than half a million (580K) centenarians within the next 30 years and by 2050, some 800K Americans will have celebrated their 100th birthdays. It’s also projected that one in three girls born today will see their 100th birthday!

Additionally, aging experts have recently identified a new group, Super Centenarians, those over the age of 110.  According to the UCLA Gerontology Research Group, there are just under 100 in the world: 82 women and 9 men, verified through birth certificates and other records.  This is obviously a considerably smaller group, in fact our chances of being part of this special birthday club is one in six million. However, interestingly enough, six of the ten oldest people alive today, reside in the United States. While this is certainly exciting, there are likely many, many undocumented others elsewhere in the world.
 
Currently, the oldest documented person on earth is Gertrude Baines, 115, of Los Angeles, who frankly, is tired of all the fuss over her new title. Seems everyone wants to know her secret. While she is both mentally sharp and very healthy, except for some arthritis in her left knee, she is also very spiritual and therefore refers these inquiring people to God saying simply, “Ask him.”

While there is growing interest in all aspects of living long, researchers specializing in centenarians believe genes likely play a more dominant role than lifestyle. The hypothesis is that a set of genes protects centenarians by delaying aging and preventing age-related diseases. Additionally, it appears to be a family affair as supercentenarians generally come from families whose members are also long-lived, so it’s likely in their DNA. In fact, men with a centenarian sibling were 17 times as likely to be centenarians, and women were 8 times as likely.

While it’s intriguing to discover the role family DNA may play in our chances of living to 100 or more, we have to get to 100 first, and for that we know our lifestyle indeed plays an important part. Regardless of how long we live, it’s how we live long and our quality of life that really matters most. So it’s not how old you are, but rather, how are you old that can truly make the difference between living and existing.

If you want to live to 100, check out livingto100.com and take the quiz. It’s a great place to figure out the rest of your life.

Kelly Ferrin, gerontologist and author of “What’s Age Got To Do With It? Secrets to Aging in Extraordinary Ways” has been studying aging and retirement issues for over 25 years. She was one of the first to ever receive a degree in this field from the prestigious Andrus School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California, the top school in the nation for age-related studies.

website: kellyferrin.com ••• email: ageangel@earthlink.net