Is 100 the new 80?

Researchers from Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin have been studying centenarians during their final years.  According to their findings, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Medical Sciences, those who died at 100 years or more suffered fewer diseases than those who died at 90-99 and those who died at 80-89.

The research showed that disorders associated with old age, including dementia and musculoskeletal disorders affected approximately 50% of the centenarians who recorded a total of 5 or more comorbid (definition: relating to or denoting a medical condition that occurs with another)  conditions.  The same found in 60% of those who died in their 90's and 66% of those who died in their 80's.

Chronic diseases, high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia and renal failure were less common in those who had died after reaching 100.

The study also revealed that medical science estimates that half of all children born in the developed world during this century will live to at least 100.  Forty years ago only 1 in 10,000 were expected to live until 100. 

NOTE:  Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe.  More than half of Germany's Nobel prize winners in medicine and physiology attended the 307 year old institute.