Sociomedical Study of Centenarians in Nagoya City

• Published in: Nihon Rōnen Igakkai zasshi Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 84 - 94
• Main Authors: Inagaki, Aki, Yamamoto, Toshiyuki, Niimi, Tatsuji, Hashizume, Yoshio, Inagaki, Toshiaki, Kikuchi, Motoo, Ogihara, Masayuki, Mizuno, Tomoyuki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Japan The Japan Geriatrics Society 1996
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Aged; Aged, 80 and over - physiology; Aged, 80 and over - psychology; Aging - blood; Aging - immunology; Blood Chemical Analysis; Blood chemistry and immunity tests; Centenarians; Comprehensive functional assessment of the elderly; Female; Humans; Male; Nagoya city; Nursing Homes; Socioeconomic Factors
• ISSN: 0300-9173
• DOI: 10.3143/geriatrics.33.84

The purpose of this study was to assess the background to the longevity of 36 centenarians in Nagoya city and to compare 14 institutionalized centenarians out of those 36 with 202 individuals in the 70-99 age group in our special nursing home, particularly with regard to blood chemistry and immunity tests. The reasons for their social longevity in terms of profile appeared to be attention to eating habits, abstention from smoking and drinking, occupations with adequate exercise. The incidence of dementia was 65.6% among them. We evaluated centenarians from the viewpoint of Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDS) and comprehensive functional assessment of the elderly consisted of the revised version of Hasegawa's Dementia Scale (HDSR), and examintion of activity of daily living (ADL), physical perception, and social life. All were postiviely associated. Thus centenarians independent of physical assistance demonstrated significantly higher systolic blood pressure, and respective scores for HDS, HDSR, ADL, physical perception and social life than their dependent counterparts, were less likely to be institutionalized and suffered from fewer disorders. In particular none were diagnosed as positive for cerebral hemorrhage, infarction and dementia. Age demonstrated significant positive or negative correlation with the following values in blood chemistry and immunity tests: blood cell counts, hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit value, albumin, total protein, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, creatinine, blood cell nitrogen, uric acid, helper T cell, and IgA immunoglobulin.