First autopsy study of an Okinawan centenarian: absence of many age-related diseases

J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2004 Nov;59(11):1195-9. doi: 10.1093/gerona/59.11.1195.

Abstract

Consistent with the compression-of-morbidity hypothesis, several studies have reported that a significant proportion of centenarians delay or escape age-related diseases. Of those who live with such diseases for a long time, many appear to do so with better functional status than do younger persons who do not achieve extreme old age. The authors describe the first autopsy in an Okinawan-Japanese centenarian who escaped many age-related illnesses and delayed frailty toward the end of her very long life. Her late-life morbidity pattern is contrasted with that of white centenarians.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aging / pathology*
  • Autopsy
  • Bronchopneumonia / pathology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Japan
  • Longevity*