Most of What We Know About Humans Living to Very Old Age is Based on Faulty Data
The desire to live as long as possible has driven a booming industry of supplements, books, and tips, but a researcher at the University of College London’s Centre for Longitudinal Studies claims that most of what we know about humans living to very old age is based on faulty data.
Saul Justin Newman’s research, which is currently being peer-reviewed, looked at data about centenarians and supercentenarians in the United States, Italy, England, France, and Japan. Contrary to what one might expect, he found that supercentenarians tended to come from areas with poor health, high levels of poverty, and bad record-keeping.
Newman suggests that the secret to extreme longevity is not to live in a “blue zone,” as some have claimed, but to “move where birth certificates are rare, teach your kids pension fraud, and start lying.” He notes that the blue zones are often regions with poor health, high levels of poverty, and bad record-keeping.
One example is Sogen Kato, who was thought to be Japan’s oldest living person until his mummified remains were discovered in 2010. It turned out he had been dead since 1978. His family was arrested for collecting three decades of pensions payments. The government then launched a review which found that 82 percent of Japan’s centenarians – 230,000 people – were missing or dead.
Newman’s research highlights the problem of confirming ages in this field, which involves triple-checking very old documents that could have been wrong from the start. The industry that has popped up around blue zones is one “symptom” of this problem.
Some blue zones researchers have rebutted Newman’s work, calling it “ethically and academically irresponsible” and “referring to broader regions of Japan and Sardinia when the blue zones were smaller areas.” However, Newman says that even if the blue zones are smaller areas, the problem of verifying ages remains.
To measure age accurately, Newman suggests that a physical methylation clock can be used. This technique, created by Steve Horvath, an ageing researcher at the University of California, can “reliably detect instances of severe fraud” but cannot yet tell the difference between a 115- and 120-year-old.
So, what can people take away from this debate? According to Newman, “if you want to live a long time, step number one: don’t buy anything. Listen to your GP, do some exercise, don’t drink, don’t smoke – that’s it.”
