Check It Out: Why are there so many centenarians?
By Joan Janzen
It’s been said you know you’ve reached the age of 100 when your birthday candles cost more than the cake. Statistics revealed by medical researcher Dr. David Grimes show the number of centenarians is increasing.
Those statistics show the number of people worldwide living to be 100 or more years has doubled every 10 years since 2000. In 2000 there were 150,000 people living to be 100 worldwide, and in 2020 there were 600,000, whereas from 1950 to 1970 there were fewer than 50,000. When comparing the rise in centenarians to the decline in coronary heart disease, the two graphs suggest a clear link between the two.
People celebrating their 100th birthdays have their own explanations for reaching this milestone. One person recalled meeting a woman who was living in her own home at the age of 100 while receiving home care and Meals on Wheels. She had fallen and an ambulance delivered her to the hospital, where a doctor asked to see her medication schedule. He was told she didn’t take any medication and had never been to a doctor and therefore had no diagnosis.
Dr. Grimes noted the majority of centenarians die from old age rather than from disease. They run out of energy and their muscles get weaker. He called it mitochondrial exhaustion.
“Another thing that happens is collagen disappears and your skin becomes thinner and you bruise easily. You only get so many cell divisions, and our tissues run out of those cell divisions, so we run out of vitality,” he explained.
In January of 2018 I had the honour of attending the 108th birthday celebration of Esmond Allcock, who lived in Kerrobert. At the time he was the oldest male in Canada. His family described him as “a gift” and he enjoyed keeping in touch with them via FaceTime on his iPad. At 108 he was reading, keeping up with current affairs, playing bingo, spending time outdoors during the summer and watching Blue Jays baseball. The staff at the Health Centre described him as kind and humble. Having enjoyed 72 years of married life, Esmond claimed the secret to living a long life was picking a good wife.
Dr. Grimes said, “It was always thought more people in Japan reached the age of 100, but it was found out their relatives had not reported their deaths so they could collect their pensions.”
Records from the United Kingdom show a dramatic increase in people reaching the age of 100. This has also occurred throughout the world, Dr. Grimes observed. In 1950 there were 295 centenarians in the UK. Of those, 48 were male and 247 were female.
John Campbell, who was interviewing Dr. Grimes, said, “When I was young it was always women who lived significantly longer than men.” Fast forward to 2024, when there were 14,850 individuals celebrating their 100th birthday.
“In the UK you get a message from the King on your 100th birthday. I can’t imagine he’s going to write nearly 15,000 cards. I guess he’s been pretty busy,” Dr. Grimes joked.
He noted that a person celebrating a 100th birthday in 1960 would have been born in 1860. “People born in 1860 were not really expecting to live until 100. The average life span was probably 40 to 50 years of age. Life was tough in 1860 and they lived in primitive conditions. Those are all things to consider,” the doctor observed. “You realize how incredible it is that they lived to old age.”
At that time they lived in poor housing, were overcrowded, water was often polluted and they did a lot of hard manual labour. It wasn’t sophisticated medication or clever science that saved lives. It was better housing, access to clean water, and better nutrition when transportation improved.
In 1860 there were 160 infant deaths per 1,000 births, which is about 16 per cent. By 2010 there were only three or four infant deaths per 1,000.
Citing the British Medical Journal, Dr. Grimes said, “It’s said on average doctors live longer than the rest of the population because they don’t take much medication, don’t smoke and don’t engage in dangerous activities.”
Another individual who cared for seniors for many years observed that people who lived into their 90s and beyond stayed physically active, were never on huge amounts of medication and had a positive attitude, enjoying their lives. “The generation who lived through WWII were real toughies,” she added.
Forty or 50 years ago we may not have known anyone who reached the age of 100. However, now we are blessed to see 100th birthday celebrations taking place quite frequently as we take time to honour centenarians in our communities.
Joan Janzen