This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Centernarians, individuals who live to age 100, live the vast majority of their lives in good health. In many ways, these individuals are models of successful aging; however, by the time they reach 100, many of them have developed age-related diseases that they have avoided for the majority of their lives. Unlike their parents, the children of centenarians, who are in their 70s and 80s, are generally not near the end of their lives and may better reflect what it takes to make it to exceptional old age. Dr. Dellara Terry studies the children of centenarians in order to gain a better understanding of healthy aging and longevity. Her preliminary results suggest that the children of centenarians may be following in the footsteps of their parents. In particular, the centenarian children have lower rates of heart disease and fewer risk factors associated with heart disease when they are compared to individuals whose parents died at the average life expectancy. Given these differences and evidence regarding the familiality of longevity, Dr. Terry hypothesizes that the centenarian children are predisposed to longevity by delaying or avoiding cardiovascular disease and its risk factors.
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