Air Date: Monday, June 26, 2006
Living longer
How old was your mom when she had you?
Some new research finds that the answer to that question could determine whether you'll live to 100.
More people are living longer, and now some research suggests that a person is more likely to live to see their 100th birthday if they were born to a younger mom.
The study looked at the genealogical records and family histories of nearly 200 centenarians born in the U.S. from 1890 to 1893.
"These authors looked at the age of the moms and felt that from the data they looked at, the younger the mom, the better, so if your mom had you when she was 25 or younger, it seemed to bode well for the ability to get to 100," Dr. Thomas Perls, of the Boston University School of Medicine said.
In fact, the research, done at the University of Chicago found that the chances of living to 100 and beyond nearly doubled for people born to a woman before her 25th birthday.
"I think it's going to be very unlikely that it's going to be an important factor," Dr. Perls said.
Dr. Perls is the director of the New England Centenarian Study. He finds some problems with this new research.
"I think this is a statistical quirk, and if you look at enough records you can find just about anything," Dr. Perls said.
Dr. Perls says when it comes to longevity, there are much more important things you should be paying attention to.
"I would say those are watching your weight, not smoking, exercise, managing your stress well and probably some genetics plays a role," Dr. Perls said.
The researchers are hopeful this study will lead to larger studies on longevity.
The finding of this study were presented at the Chicago Actuarial Association meeting.
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