Is Longevity Inherited?

[Brat]

If you use your family longevity to plan your retirement savings spend-down you will live to be 100.

 

[imoldernu]

Along with the nature/nurture argument, the second part of understanding and accepting theories on longevity comes from evaluating statistical significance.

Statistical significance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While hating the subject when I studied it some 60 years ago, it generated a cynicism that has helped in sorting out theory from fact.

It's usually possible to find a study somewhere that affirms our expectations... but sampling size and other factors matter. ie... is a 500 sample size significant?
http://www.einstein.yu.edu/centers/aging/longevity-genes-project/


So, starting with simple logic, check the source and then look to the best acepted standards. Government studies, Wikipedia, CIA Factbook, NIH, and the prominent (in this case) health websites.

Biggest danger is knowing what we know.

Hmmm.. yeah, numbers is hard.

 

[marko]

Here's my personal theory despite having no real professional/scientific background on the matter:

The Spanish Flu of 1914 wiped out the weaklings. 20 million of them in a few months. The survivors went on through the 20th century and created an unusually long lived population coupled to offspring who were similarly robust.

We all know of people (grandparent's era) who smoked, drank and abused themselves but lived to their mid-90s and now parents who are going strong and playing tennis in their 80's.

By the third generation, (Boomers) a more diluted robustness returned through a number of natural genetic degradations --not all, but more people are weaker than others-- at the same time as medical science coupled to healthier living has found ways to off set those weaknesses.

As a result, I wonder if what we view longevity today is merely a fluky remnant of a disastrous 'filter' that occurred 100 years ago as we return to a more diverse set of strong/weak set of population.

Sorry, I don't mean for this to be so black and white --because it isn't--but more of an incomplete set of musings.....(late in the day and after my first Mart)

 

[sengsational]

If you dig a bit, you'll find that just the opposite happened with the Spanish flu...those with the strongest immune system were the ones that died!!

 

[marko]

If you dig a bit, you'll find that just the opposite happened with the Spanish flu...those with the strongest immune system were the ones that died!!

Interesting. So the ones with more immunity to flu died from the flu?

Can you steer me to some info on that? I wonder how were they able to measure immune system strength a century ago? I would like to read up on that.

 

[Brat]

Scientists Uncover Why Spanish Flu So Deadly


The Spanish Flu was more deadly to people in their middle years, as opposed to children and elderly, further supporting the fact that those with robust immune systems died.

 

[marko]

Scientists Uncover Why Spanish Flu So Deadly


The Spanish Flu was more deadly to people in their middle years, as opposed to children and elderly, further supporting the fact that those with robust immune systems died.

Well, there goes my theory.

 

[Lsbcal]

The longevity inheritance question is interesting in a statistical sense.

But what about real life where I'm only interested in a sample size of one, i.e. me?

 

[Koolau]

Heh, heh, all this talk of longevity and medical histories, etc. reminds me of a story. DW went to ER with (what turned out to be) acute gastritis. The admitting thought maybe heart attack at first. As they were administering pain meds, they were taking DWs medical history. DOC "Any history of heart disease in your family?" DW (in a frail, voice) "My grandma died of heart failure." DOC "How old was she?" DW (even more frail now due to meds) "94." DOC (mouthing to the nurse) "No heart history." I almost had to leave the room to stifle an otherwise inappropriate laugh.

 

[NW-Bound]

The longevity inheritance question is interesting in a statistical sense.

But what about real life where I'm only interested in a sample size of one, i.e. me?

Some people look at longevity of their ancestors for some hope. Even that is now flaky, according to the expert quoted in the original post.

And then, of course, even if there's some tendency to inherit good health from ancestors, one may just be so unlucky to fall into a 2 or 3-sigma case where statistics do not apply.

We keep reading about people inheriting genes causing predisposition to diseases such as certain cancer. That is very true. So, bad genes can be inherited, but good longevity genes are not? Life can be so cruel, you know?

 

[LifeIs]

With the flu scenario ....if we have children, working class and eldery. The working class are around many people who are sick. While in the military I was sick yearly...since retired I have not once caught the flu nor received the vacc in 11 years. Kids get sick at school...but they are also the first to get care....our elderly to me seem usually isolated. So to me that makes perfect sense.


Wife is a doctor and fully believes that our genetics play the most part...but are impacted by environmental factors. I always say garbage in garbage out..if you think genetics aren't much look at boxing, football, baseball and mostly weightlifting.




Cheers just a couple pennies.


inheritance has surprisingly little influence on longevity.

 

[Totoro]

A few interesting quotes from the book "Supercentenarians', co-authored by James Vaupel. PDF version here -

MPIDR - Supercentenarians

Half of supercentenarians have no children - isn't that a very strong indicator as well then?

It's a bit shocking to me too, since I thought having children and family gives you a better chance of having a strong social network later in life, which in turn should increase longevity and health?

Interesting link - thanks!

Also the link to killing off non-dividing cells as a trick to live longer is really food for thought if it pans out. Wikipedia is kind of sceptic regarding Quercetin though. Hurry up science, I am not going to live forever!

 

[bjorn2bwild]

Half of supercentenarians have no children - isn't that a very strong indicator as well then?

It's a bit shocking to me too, since I thought having children and family gives you a better chance of having a strong social network later in life, which in turn should increase longevity and health?

From the book -

Evolutionary theory predicts that there should be a tradeoff  be-
tween survival and reproduction, so this finding, which needs to be carefully scrutinized and verified may be a result of genes that reduce mortality at the expense of fertility.

As noted, being female is the greatest advantage to reaching advanced old age. All of the gains in longevity have been by bringing the average age up, not in extending the ultimate limit - thought to be unchanged for the last 100k years @ ~115yrs.