What's the Link between Longevity and Good Memory?

One in 10,000 people live to the age of 100, but do they live healthy at the same time?

Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have found a gene mutation that ensures a life beyond 90s and also protects brain functions to that age.

The team examined 158 people of Ashkenazi (European) Jewish descent who were 95 or older.

Elderly subjects lacking the gene variant performed twice worse on a standard test of cognitive function than the subjects possessing the mutation.

Investigating a group of 124 Ashkenazi Jews who were aged between 75 and 85, the researchers found that those who did not develop dementia were five times more likely to have the favorable mutation than those who developed dementia.

The mutation, known as CETP VV, alters the Cholesterol Ester Protein.

This protein cuts the size of "good" HDL and "bad" LDL cholesterol, which enter into lipoprotein molecules.

The cholesterol particles in the blood, in the mutation variant, are bigger than normal.

Scientists think that smaller particles can more easily lodge themselves in blood vessel linings, leading to the fatty buildup that is the origin of heart attacks and strokes.

Centenarians were three times more likely to possess CETP VV compared with a control group representative of the general population and also had significantly larger HDL and LDL lipoproteins than people in the control group.

CETP VV may protect brain tissue and activity either through the same vascular "anti-clogging" effect or through an independent protective mechanism still unknown.

"It's possible that this gene variant also protects against the development of Alzheimer's disease," said Dr. Nir Barzilai, the director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY.

"Little effort has been made to identify the reasons for longevity in exceptionally old people, and why they don't develop disease. In studying these centenarians, we hope to learn what factors lessen their risk for diseases that affect the general population at a much younger age. Our results bring us a step closer to understanding the role that genes play in longevity."

"Without good brain function, living to age 100 is not an attractive proposition," said Barzilai.

"We've shown that the same gene variant that helps people live to exceptional ages has the added benefit of helping them think clearly for most of their long lives. In studying these centenarians, we hope to learn why they're able to resist diseases that affect the general population at a much younger age. This knowledge should greatly aid our efforts to prevent or delay the onset of age-related diseases."

"Work is being done to develop drugs that can mimic the effect of this gene variation," added Barzilai.