Scientist Studied 4,330 Centenarians, Found Two Things They Have in Common
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Those who live until they are 100 years old may have a "superhuman ability" to be more resistant to certain diseases, a new study has found.
The study, published in the journal eClinical Medicine, was conducted by researchers at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm who analyzed the health of a large group of Swedish residents, all born between 1920 and 1922, for up to 30 years.
"My research team has found that people that live to 100 seem to possess the superhuman ability to avoid disease," paper author and epidemiologist professor Karin Modig wrote in The Conversation.
The researchers found that "centenarians had fewer diagnosed conditions and accumulated diseases at a slower rate than non-centenarians."
According to the study's findings, the differences in disease accumulation begin long before extreme old age. The study followed participants from age 60 onwards—and researchers already saw the centenarians' health patterns start to differ from others at that point, including "in the number and types of diseases, as well as in some biomarker values," Modig told Newsweek.
So, what's the key to centenarians' health and longevity? "I'm not sure there is a single factor," Modig told Newsweek.
He added: "Studies of supercentenarians have tried to identify one but haven't succeeded.
"However, having a healthy cardiovascular system and maintaining a positive outlook on life—feeling a sense of purpose—does seem to be a common pattern."
A stock image of a group of smiling elderly men and women pictured outdoors.
A stock image of a group of smiling elderly men and women pictured outdoors.
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According to the study, cardiovascular diseases were found to be the most common diagnoses in all age groups, "but contributed less to the overall disease burden among centenarians."
The researchers noted that "neuropsychiatric conditions were consistently less common among centenarians," while they also had fewer co-occurring diseases and were more likely to have conditions belonging to a single disease group.
Modig says that it is hard to know whether centenarians being more resistant to heart and brain-related diseases is mainly due to genetics, lifestyle or a mix of both.
The professor explained: "It's difficult to say for certain, but previous research suggests that the genetic contribution to longevity is smaller than many people assume—around 25 percent. Lifestyle likely plays a large role.
"At the very highest ages, chance also comes into play—whether someone happens to fall and break a hip, catch a seasonal flu, develop cancer and so on."
Are there any early steps that could be taken to help delay multiple health problems? Modig said: "We haven't studied what causes these patterns, but based on other research, lifestyle factors probably play a major role. It is, however, probable that the role of lifestyle and the impact of specific lifestyle factors vary over the life course."
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about longevity? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Reference
Zhang, Y., Murata, S., Schmidt-Mende, K., Ebeling, M., & Modig, K. (2025). Disease accumulation and distribution across the lifespan in Swedish centenarians and non-centenarians: A nationwide life course comparison of longevity and health resilience. eClinicalMedicine, 87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103396
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