Issue 105 Item 11 Centenarians Children Less Likely to Have Heart Disease and Di

Children of centenarians are less likely than children of shorter-lived parents to have certain life-shortening diseases, providing further evidence that longevity runs in families, researchers report. According to study findings presented at the American Geriatrics Society annual meeting in Baltimore on Saturday, children of parents who live to at least 100 years of age are less likely to have hypertension, coronary artery disease and diabetes than those whose parents died at the age of 73 years.

Additionally, children of long-lived parents weighed less than others and tended to have a lower body mass index.

Although the differences between the two groups were striking, explaining them is more difficult, said Dr. Dellara F. Terry, from Boston University Medical Center.

Dr Dellara said. "I think genes play an increasing role for those who reach excessive longevity," "But I don’t think it’s 100%."

The investigators base their findings on a comparison between 179 children of centenarians and 172 children born to people who died at age 73. All parents were born between 1896 and 1900.

Dr. Terry and colleagues found that children of centenarians were 75% less likely to have developed coronary artery disease. In addition, children of centenarians had a 71% reduced risk of hypertension, and were 64% less likely to have developed diabetes.

Although genetic factors play a large role in familial longevity, Dr. Terry explained that the picture is much more complicated.

In terms of environmental influences, children often learn nutrition and exercise patterns from their parents, and long-lived people are likely to have healthy habits that they could pass on to their kin.

In addition, children of centenarians may be inspired by the older person’s longevity to keep up healthy habits in order to prolong their own lives. Longevity could also stem from certain personality types, or attitudes, which could spread through the entire family.

Dr. Terry’s team plans to follow centenarian children see if they avoid–or simply delay the onset of—the diseases seen more often in others.