A centenarian is a person who lives to or beyond the age of 100 years. A super-centenarian is a person who has lived to the age of 110 or more. Even rarer is a person who has lived to age 115. As of January 2013, there are only 29 people in recorded history who have indisputably reached this age.
My grandmother lived to be 105 years old. That is an amazing age to me. When she was alive, she would tell me, “I’m not going to live forever, you know.” I would always reply back with, “We’ll see!” Well, she didn’t live forever, but she did live a long time.
She was born in 1903. To put her age into perspective, here are a few historical events that happened in 1903.
President Roosevelt shut down a post office in Mississippi for refusing to accept its newly appointed postmistress because she was African-American.
Dr. Harry Plotz discovered a vaccine against typhoid.
The U.S. won a disputed boundary between the District of Alaska & Canada.
The Wright brothers made their first flight at Kitty Hawk.
A fire at Chicago’s Iroquois Theater killed 602 people.
Henry Ford (a machinist and engineer) formed Ford Motor Company.
I was reading a few articles the other day on a gene that scientist claim could be the reason why some elderly people suffer from heart attacks, strokes and dementia at an earlier age (75-85), and yet those that live in the hundreds generally keep their memory.
It is well known that the Longevity Gene is tied to longer life and better memory, but until now, it has been unclear as to why the people who have the gene, known as CETP W, reaped this benefit.
New research has shown that the CETP W gene alters the cholesterol ester transfer protein, which affects the size of “good” HDL and “bad” LDL cholesterol. Those with the gene had higher HDL cholesterol levels and larger cholesterol particle size. The thinking is that cholesterol particle size may help protect against dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as well as promote longevity.
Researchers believe larger cholesterol particles are less likely to lodge in blood vessels, lowering the risk of dementia, stroke, and heart attack.
While it is good news that the Longevity Gene may help in finding ways to prevent heart attacks, stokes and dementia, many still say environment accounts for a considerable part of living a long life. After all, French woman Jeanne Calment, the oldest person in documented history, died at age 122, and she was a smoker.
Elderly humor
Two very elderly women were enjoying the sunshine on a park bench. They had been meeting there every sunny day for over 10 years, chatting and enjoying each other’s friendship.
One day, the younger of the two ladies, turned to the other and said, “Please don’t be angry with me, dear, but after all these years, I just can’t remember your name!”
The older friend stared at her, looking very distressed and saying nothing for a few minutes. Then, with tearful eyes, she finally asked, “How soon do you have to know?”