Very recently in 2010, UCLA’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine autopsied 115-year-old Gertrude Baines. She was recognized as the former oldest person in the world. It was in September 11, 2009 that she passed away at the age of 115 years and 158 days. She was the last known survivor born in 1894.
There is actually “74 super-centenarians” alive. Last year, Baines, was amidst the 77 super-centenarians living at that time. A super-centenarian is any person who is aged 110 or above. The autopsy conducted by UCLA’s Department of Pathology and Laboratory of David School Medicine that died Senile Amyloidosis.
Old age diseases
It appears that super-centenarians go beyond common old diseases. They are killed by new rare fatal killers that surface at late age. They do not die of ordinary causes such as heart disease, stroke, cancer or diabetes. L. Stephen Coles, director and cofounder of the Gerontology Research Group say there is “another form of the grim reaper waiting in the wings,”
Supercentenarians do usually die from Senile Systemic Amyloidosis. This process involves a gradual process involving a protein known as Transthyretin. This protein expresses thyroid hormones in the body, and it becomes progressively unstable. Aging in humans at late age causes protein to unravel in a way that the blood flow in the blood vessels becomes limited. Coles says that the result of this is that the heart suffers from hypertrophy.
The end-result of this process is signs of congestive heart failure. According to Coles, without the autopsy the cause of the death would never have been revealed.
The “Gerontology Research Group” is constantly trying to study and observe supercentenarians while they are alive and the causes of their deaths. Around 5 to 7 supercentenarians have already been autopsied by UCLA.
In the recent 10 years, Coles have studied roughly 20 living super-centenarians. He has studied the medical, family and social history of the individuals. This involves scrutinizing their eating habits, occupations and even religious belief. The mental capacity of the old-aged people has also been tested and evaluated.
The reason why all these attributes are examined is to understand why these super-centenarians have managed to live to such an advanced age. Common elements are sought such as eating habits or even genes, which might have contributed to such a long life.
However, results on super-centenarians are rather varied. There are those who smoke and drink yet they live to an advanced age. Coles says that family history appears to have a high influence on longevity. Those who have had relatives living to an advanced age are more prone to live longer.
Supercentenarians Missed Out
The Gerontology Research Group does every month host lectures and online discussions. The aim is to identify and to validate claims of who is really a supercentenarian. Documents such as birth certificates are collected at an international level to identify new super-centenarians. For instance, some people are not considered as super-centenarians, due to missing documents and this applies mainly for developing countries.
The list of super-centenarians is properly omitting at least around 30 to 40 super-centenarians alive today. However, official proof is absent and validation can thus not be gratified. The consequences of absence of birth certificates denounce that there are no super-centenarian alive in India, China, Africa or South America, which is ironically the most populous countries in the world.
According to Coles, the official number of supercentenarians alive is under-estimated. For instance, in a previous article entitled “128-Year-Old Woman Living In Uzbekistan, Is it True Or False?”, a woman is claiming to be 128 years, yet not considered in the list of super-centenarians.
The fantastic thing about the research is that new treatment can soon emerge. The cause of death for supercentenarians is called Senile Systemic Amyloidosis and researchers might now try to find a cure. This could further extend the life of supercentenarians in the future.
Source: Daily Bruin and Wikipedia
Fri, Apr 2, 2010
Gerontology, Health And Aging, Longevity