Independently Ageing

There is close correlation between living independently and reaching the ripe old age of 100, according to a new study conducted by the Boston University Medical Centre.

Researchers found that a very high proportion of people who live to 100 lived independently until well into their 90s.

They studied over 700 centenarians in the Boston area and found that 90% were functionally independent at the age of 92 years and, amazingly, 75% were still independent at the age of 95 years.

Another interesting finding from the study was that people who lived to 100 are generally able to avoid age-related diseases until very late in life or entirely, with 72% of male centenarians and 34% of female centenarians still free of age-related diseases at the age of 97 years or older.

The researchers found that the centenarians were very different with regards to years of education, socio-economic status, religion, ethnicity, and patterns of diet (vegetarians to diets high in saturated fats). But there was one distinct pattern – centenarians in the Boston area were almost twice as likely to be women than men.