Centenarians breaking records: Nature or nurture?

Abstract

Societies are progressively aging, with the ‘oldest old’ (i.e. those aged 85–90 years and above) being the most rapidly expanding population segment. Among them, centenarians are not only the survival tail of the population, but also a model of healthy aging as they have managed to postpone (and sometimes even avoided) major chronic diseases and their fatal consequences. Especially remarkable are the cases of centenarians who still have an admirable physical function, and thus represent a paradigm of healthy aging.