How many centenarians, people
living at least 100 years, do you know? This population is growing so fast, it
is not unusual these days to know several. In fact, if you haven't already, many of you reading this
post may become centenarians yourselves. Reaching this formerly rare milestone
has become common nowadays, not only because of genetics, but also due to
advances in healthcare with people living longer.
Those are not the only
factors that impact how long people live. Surprisingly, marriage and living
arrangements also play important roles. Being a centenarians living with a spouse during old age is more beneficial in
terms of longevity for men than for women. For women, living alone is more
advantageous than living with a spouse. Generally, men are often not able to
live well by themselves, whereas women seem to have fewer problems living on
their own.
Recent
research findings by the Georgia Centenarian Study focused on the
relationship between vision impairment and well-being among centenarians.
This study evaluated their
visual function and assessed the relationship between vision, social support,
and well-being. Centenarians reported lower levels of depression when they had
social support. However, centenarians who had low levels of visual
function tended to report higher depression even if they had social support. Results
of this study indicate that vision function is related to centenarians'
well-being, especially depression.
Speaking of
centenarians, imagine the possibility of 20 living in one residence. A residence in Cote-St-Luc in
Canada celebrated several centenarians in a group birthday party, leaving them
with a total of 20 residents over 100 years old.
Frances Shani Parker, Author
Becoming Dead Right: A Hospice Volunteer in Urban Nursing
Homes is available in
paperback and e-book editions in America and other countries at online and
offline booksellers.
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