- As human life expectancy has increased, so has the number of people living to 100 years of age or older.
- Researchers have found that centenarians have a unique immune cell composition and activity, giving them an immune system that helps them live longer.
- Scientists believe these findings may be used to develop healthy aging therapeutics.
The life expectancy of humans on our planet has more than doubled since 1900. Global life expectancy has increased from 31 years in 1900 to 73.2 years in 2023, and is expected to further increase to 77.1 years in 2050.
Also increasing is the number of people reaching the age of 100 or more. Known as
One thing still unknown is what allows some people to live into their 100s, while others do not.
Led by researchers from Tufts Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine, a new study is helping to answer this question by finding that centenarians possess a unique immune cell composition and activity, giving them a highly-functional immune system and allowing them to live longer.
Scientists believe these findings could be used potentially to develop healthy aging therapeutics.
The study was recently published in the journal
As we age, all parts of the body experience changes, including the immune system.
According to Dr. Scott Kaiser, a geriatrician, and director of Geriatric Cognitive Health for the Pacific Neuroscience Institute in Santa Monica, California, there are two main concepts when it comes to how the immune system changes as we get older.
“One is immunosenescence and that’s the age-related process of immune dysfunction,” he explained to Medical News Today.
“So changes in our…
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