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The 115 - year - old Hendrikje van Andel - Schipper , who hold the title of world ’s oldest human before she died in 2004 , attributed her longevity to eating herring every daytime . But doctors had a suspicion it was a little more than that . After all , everyone and their uncle eat herring in van Andel - Schipper ’s aboriginal state of the Netherlands .
turn out their hunch was right . It was the herringanda group of coveted genes knownto help prevent circulatory diseaseand Alzheimer ’s and Parkinson ’s disease . The genes in all probability go to van Andel - Schipper ’s remarkable genial clarity at such an advanced age as well as her power to work chest cancer . . . at geezerhood 100 .
Studying the genetics of centenarians could reveal a recipe for a long life, with scientists finding coveted genes are major players.
Dutch researcher Henne Holstege of the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam presented the initial findings from an depth psychology of van Andel - Schipper ’s genes on Oct. 14 at the annual meeting of the International Congress of Human Genetics in Montreal .
Herring + good factor - herring = long life
Holstege said she hopes van Andel - Schipper ’s alone genetic design , called a genome , can serve as a computer address for next field oflongevity cistron . She liken van Andel - Schipper ’s genome to a checklist of all that ’s require to combat the ravages of aging . No other centenarian has been study as thoroughly . [ 7 shipway the head and consistency Change With eld ]
Studying the genetics of centenarians could reveal a recipe for a long life, with scientists finding coveted genes are major players.
Van Andel - Schipper was racy and did n’t enter a nursing home until age 105 . researcher grew intrigued by her mental acuity during her later years . Her performance in mental tests at age 113 was above average for a intelligent grownup between the ages of 60 and 75 . Ultimately van Andel - Schipper give-up the ghost of tummy cancer , which is ironic because this type of cancer is uncommon today but was common in 1890 , the twelvemonth she was take over .
as luck would have it , van Andel - Schipper settle to donate her torso to medical skill when she was just a honeyed , new thing at age 82 , appropriate researcher to see more deep for the implicit in suit of her remarkable longevity .
Upon van Andel - Schipper ’s death , an autopsy of her brain showed no signs of even minor dementia , antecedently thought to be inevitable for the older . Doctors also find no sign of memorial tablet in her arteries . While it is true that van Andel - Schipper ’s favorite fish , herring , hold back heart - tidy omega-3 butterball pane , doctors had never seen such a pristine vascular organization in the elderly . [ 10 New Ways to consume Well ]
Key to living past 100
Holstege and her Dutch and American colleague are only in the initial level of van Andel - Schipper ’s genome analysis , and no results have been published . doc hope that a dependable understanding of seniority gene can lead to medicines that can curb the genes that cause disease and set off the gene that promote longsighted life .
The late van Andel - Schipper is unparalleled in that she was among the fewer than 30 people in modern times known to live longer than 115 yr ; and she is also one of only a few hundred people ( so far ) to have their complete genome canvas .
Maybe beingthe world ’s old personisn’t the best finish in life . The title usually is unawares - lived , with some sinister aged in a sway chair out to take your title away . But at least you know to get there you do n’t have to eat herring every daytime . All you need is that magic combination of genes , distributed to or so 1 in a billion hoi polloi .
Christopher Wanjek is the author of the books " Bad Medicine " and " Food At workplace . " His column , Bad Medicine , appears on a regular basis on LiveScience .
