Study: Longevity runs in families

BOSTON, Nov. 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. study of children of parents who lived to be at least 97 years old found that longevity runs in families, researchers said.

Study co-author Dr. Dellara F. Terry of the Boston Medical Center said that the study showed that the offspring of those who live to a ripe old age had a 78 percent lower risk for heart attacks, 83 percent lower likelihood of stroke and an 86 percent lower risk of developing diabetes mellitus.

Terry found that the offspring followed in the study were 81 percent less likely to die than the reference group of similarly aged patients during the follow-up period.

The study, published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society survival rate is evidence that longevity runs in families and the results reinforce the notion that there may be physiological and genetic reasons that longevity runs in families, Terry explained.

Terry said the offspring maintained their cardiovascular advantages throughout their lives.

"These advantages persisted over the several years of the study when they are compared to a similarly aged group whose parents did not survive to very old age," Terry said in a statement.