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Live to 100: With a Little Help from Little Friends
I always say I'd love to live to be 100 but only if I remained healthy enough to enjoy it. And today, that's more likely than 30 years ago. Over that time, the number of centenarians have grown by two thirds in this country. It's still a small number at about 55,000, but we're obviously doing something right!
One new finding is that they may have unique microbes in their gut. Japanese centenarians' gut microbiome reduces their risk for chronic diseases and infections. These microbes impact digestion, produce vitamins, and even protect us against pathogens. But as we age, we lose some of the diversity within the microbial species there. That may lead to more frailty in older people.
Another study compared the microbiomes of three groups: 160 centenarians, one hundred twelve people ages 85 to 89, and 47 people ages 21 to 55. Again, the guts of the centenarians were distinct. They had bacterial populations not present in the other groups and lost some others found in those groups. They also had much higher levels of secondary bile acids made by their microbiome. The impact of this is that bile acids can stop the growth of damaging bacteria in the gut, giving them a "healthy" gut.
How this leads to long life is speculative. Who knows, one day a factor of long life long life may be taking a "centenarian" probiotic for healthy gut.
More Information
People who live to 100 have unique gut bacteria signatures
These bacteria could contribute to a healthy gut and, in turn, healthy aging...
Trends in STD case reports during the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic, January-December 2020
New CDC data show that during March-April 2020, reported STD cases dramatically decreased compared to the same time in 2019. However, a resurgence in gonorrhea and syphilis cases later in the year suggest overall STDs may have increased during 2020...
Novel bile acid biosynthetic pathways are enriched in the microbiome of centenarians
Centenarians have a decreased susceptibility to ageing-associated illnesses, chronic inflammation and infectious diseases. Here we show that centenarians have a distinct gut microbiome that is enriched in microorganisms that are capable of generating unique secondary bile acids, including various isoforms of lithocholic acid (LCA): iso-, 3-oxo-, allo-, 3-oxoallo- and isoallolithocholic acid...
