Supercentenarian Research Foundation In Edmonton
(From Canada.com). A representative of the Supercentenarian Research Foundation was amongst the attendees at Edmonton Aging Symposium: "What the supercentenarians have in common is that they do not have diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or cancer, which kill the majority of the population. The supercentenarians' longevity is a 'side-effect' of not dying from these common diseases ... So, the question then is: why do they die? Autopsies have shown that some supercentenarians have a buildup of a 'gunky protein' in their bodies, although there is not enough evidence to prove this is a significant cause of death amongst the very elderly ... He hopes that by raising money for research, his foundation can better understand how to keep supercentenarians alive and how to achieve longer, healthier lives for others. ... the anecdotal evidence seems to confirm what many have-long suspected: living a long life probably has more to do with genetics than lifestyle. ... One of the biggest predictors of living for a long time is having grandparents and parents who lived for a long time."
Link: http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=97931bf4-135d-4bd0-ad1e-cf8f1fb868ff