Living Past 90 Closely Linked to Genes

The longer you live past 90, the greater the odds that your genes are a big reason, researchers say in a new study. The study looked at thousands of groups of siblings in New England. In all of the groups, at least one person reached age 90. For people who lived to be 90, the odds that a sibling also reached 90 were about 70% higher than for an average person born around the same time. People who lived to age 95 were 3½ times as likely as the average person to have a sibling who reached that age. And those who made it to 100 had 9 times the normal chance of having a sibling who also reached 100. The genetic connection was even stronger for those who reached 105. Their odds of having a sibling who reached that age were 35 times normal. The Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences published the study. HealthDay News wrote about it March 26.