Why Do Supercentenarians Live So Long - ACRIIndia

1
Why Do Supercentenarians Live So Long ACRIIndia

• Supercentenarians are very rare and very precious
  individuals who live above 100 years of age,
  typically those who have reached 110 years of
  age. But, what makes them live so long, longer
  than the general 75-85 years of age of majority
  of the population? Do they have something
  special in their genetic code? Or, is it
  something else? Clinical researchers have tried
  to find out what it is that brings such long life
  to these special people, with protection from
  diseases that gives them better health.
  Obviously, lifestyle and luck are two main
  factors that play an important part to grant them
  this long-life gift, because there are only
  somewhere less than 100 people across the world
  among the billions who live t o reach this age!
  But, there has to be something else too that
  makes them so special!

To find this, researchers have put in efforts to
come up with the most possible reasons why
supercentenarians live so long. They have focused
on the role of genes and D NA.
2
Majority of us today, in this polluted and
contaminated world that we live in at present,
are prone to many threatening ailments like heart
disease, cancer, or stroke. And, as we grow,
these ailments only worsen. But, the amazing
thing here is that sup ercentenarians are less
likely to experience such health issues, even
though they live so long! Although these people
dont make lifestyle choices that are different
from those of the average person, they are
unaffected by the environmental influences that
contribute to age-related diseases. This
suggests that there is something definitely
genetic that protects them from health issues
that most people face in the old
age. Researchers thus studied the genes and DNAs
of such supercentenarians, and hoped to find a
letter change (variant) in the DNA that was not
present in those who live an average lifespan.
But, when the genes of both these groups were
compared, there were no variants that were
unique to the supercentenarians! However,
researchers found a gene called TSHZ3 that had
more variants in supercentenarians than in
normally-aged individuals. This TSHZ3 is a
regulatory gene involved in developmental
processes. The DNA sequence of this gene was
compared between the two groups of
supercentenarians and norm ally-aged
individuals, which resulted in understanding that
the frequency of protein -altering variants in
the supercentenarians was 4 as compared to only
2.5 in normally-aged individuals. Thus, there
is after all a specific genetic exceptionality in
those who are able to live up to 110 years or
longer. And, it is this gene that does not let
these precious people fall ill even as they are
nearing their death. In fact, a surprisingly
extensive proportion of supercentenarians were
found to be still functionally independent, or
required minimal assistance with their chores
and movement, even in their final y ears! With
this study, and many related studies to be done
further on this project, it is definite that a
drug or gene therapy will certainly be devised to
replicate the effects seen in supercentenarians
today, and instill them into the rest of us! This
advancement has been made possible only because
of the amazing research, study, and training that
researches go through. You can also join the
league by getting appropriate education from
3
professionals at Avigna Clinical Research
Institute through the online clinical research
courses in Bangalore available. And, you never
know, you could be the one developing, or
assisting in developing such drugs and gene
therapies in the future!