Free Republic

Almost a fifth of the people living in the UK today will live to see their 100th birthday, a government study reveals. According to the Department for Work and Pensions, an estimated 10 million of Britain's current residents, or 17% of the population, will live to be at least 100 years old. The report predicts that by 2066 there will be at least 507,000 UK residents aged 100 or over, including 7,700 people aged 110 or over. The figures represent a significant increase on the current 11,800 people in the UK who are at least 100 years old, while those...

One of Britain's oldest women was among four pensioners who were forced to leave their council-run care home today after losing their fight to keep it open. Louisa Watts, 106, had vowed not to leave Underhill House in Wolverhampton, and her son, Derek, warned that the upheaval could kill her, but this morning the elderly residents were moved to a different home a few miles away. Ms Watts, believed to be the fifth oldest woman in Britain, moved to the care home four years ago, following the death of her daughter. Five other women who had lived at the home,...

WASHINGTON — It's starting to get crowded in the 100-year-olds' club. Once virtually nonexistent, the world's population of centenarians is projected to reach nearly 6 million by midcentury. That's pushing the median age toward 50 in many developed nations and challenging views of what it means to be old and middle-age. The number of centenarians already has jumped from an estimated few thousand in 1950 to more than 340,000 worldwide today, with the highest concentrations in the U.S. and Japan, according to the latest Census Bureau figures. Their numbers are projected to grow at more than 20 times the rates...

When Hazel Homer was 99, more than one doctor advised that there was little to be done about her failing heart except wait for it to fail a final time. But Mrs. Homer was not interested in waiting to die of what many would call old age. Now, at 104, her heart is still ticking, thanks to a specialized pacemaker and defibrillator that synchronizes her heartbeat and can administer a slight shock to revive her if her heart falters. Her operation, a month before her 100th birthday, reflects what some doctors are hailing as a new frontier in medicine: successful...

Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Invecchiamento, Universita La Sapienza, Roma. Cigarette smoking has been clearly linked to the most common causes of death in the elderly and contributes to the higher death rate and disability rate associated with many chronic illnesses that are common in this age group. The combination of smoking along with other risk factors like hypertension and diabetes increase high frequency disease, and disability as well as adding to an increase in mortality rate. In order to verify if a healthy lifestyle really favours longevity and how much smoking is incompatible with extreme longevity, we investigated the prevalence of...

<p>Mother Ruby Muhammad had hoped to get her watermelons and summer annuals into her Sacramento County garden before a trip to Chicago. But there hadn't been enough time.</p> <p>And she'd like to write another poem.</p> <p>At 106, Mother Ruby is downright vivacious. She was sad for a friend who confided to her that she was just waiting for the Lord to take her to heaven.</p>