Centenarian studies: An interdisciplinary research on healthy longevity

The scope and purpose of this chapter is to summarize aims, methods, and findings of centenarian studies, mainly from our own as an interdisciplinary research. Although most of centenarians remain independent in daily living until over 90s, about 97 % of them contracted chronic diseases including hypertension (63.6 %) and bone fracture (46.4 %). The prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) and carotid atherosclerotic plaque were peculiarities of centenarians, which could be associated with high adiponectin levels. While conducting the Tokyo centenarian study (TCS), we found that only 20 % of them enjoyed physical and cognitive independence at the age of 100 years, this elite subpopulation were highly likely to become semisupercentenarians (over 105 years) or even supercentenarians (beyond 110 years). Therefore, we began to think that 100 years of age is not a model of longevity, but over 105 years is. We describe the preliminary results of the Japan Semisupercentenarian Study which led to our conviction that semisupercentenarians are a more appropriate model for the study of human longevity.