Jiroemon Kimura, who became the world’s oldest man on record last week, can thank a combination of luck early in life and, later, good genes for surviving seven decades longer than most of his peers.
Kimura, a former postman who is 115 years and 258 days old and still greets visitors with a warm smile, dodged childhood killers such as
tuberculosis and
pneumonia that kept
life expectancy in
Japan to 44 years around the time he was born in 1897. As an adult living in the town of
Tango, he had no major illnesses, his granddaughter-in-law Eiko Kimura said in an interview. He followed sumo wrestling on television and read two newspapers a day until the last few years, she said.
Jiroemon Kimura, a former postman who is 115 years and 258 days old, dodged childhood killers such as tuberculosis and pneumonia that kept life expectancy in Japan to 44 years at the turn of last century. Source: Kyotango City Hall via Bloomberg
As Kimura ages, his DNA is giving him an edge. Scientists say specific genes that protect against
heart disease,
cancer and other old-age ailments foster longevity. Knowing the biological mechanisms involved may provide clues to counter a rising tide of non-communicable diseases predicted to cost the global economy $47 trillion over the next 20 years.
“Getting the right combination is like winning the lottery,” said Thomas Perls, director of the
New England Centenarian Study at
Boston University. Some of Kimura’s genes “are likely protective against damaging cellular processes that contribute to aging and even protective against genetic variants that may not be good for him.”
Genetic Influences
Genetic factors may account for about 30 percent of a person’s chances of living to their late 80s, with behavior and the environment contributing the remainder, according to Perls. The reverse is true in people who survive to 105 years, when genetic influences become more significant, he said.
As people age, cells accumulate potentially harmful mutations as mechanisms to repair defective DNA become less efficient, said
Dario Alessi, a cell biologist at the
University of Dundee in
Scotland. Kimura may have no major disease-causing mutations and-or a superior ability to repair defective genes, he said. Scientists are making conclusions about Kimura based on the medical history of the centenarian and his relatives; they haven’t studied his genome.
Another cellular aging mechanism involves DNA sequences at the ends of chromosomes known as telomeres which help determine how often cells can divide. While telomere lengths vary from person to person at the time of birth, centenarians tend to have longer ones, said Carol Greider, professor of molecular biology and genetics at
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who won a
Nobel prize in 2009 for her research.
“Every time your cell divides, the telomeres get to be a little bit shorter” Greider said in an interview. “You may be born with telomeres that are fine and healthy, but those will erode over the lifespan of the individual.”
Long Telomeres?
Those born with the shortest telomeres tend to suffer at higher rates from age-related degenerative diseases, she said, adding that Kimura may have long telomeres.
Though Kimura’s parents died at ages 78 and 65, four of his five siblings lived to be more than 90 years old and his youngest brother, Tetsuo, died at 100, nephew Tamotsu Miyake said.
Kimura has defied the odds against his gender as well. Men make up only 15 percent of centenarians, according to Boston University’s Perls.
Genes and hormones beneficial for aging may differ between the sexes -- and work better in women, giving them a longevity advantage, said Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in
New York.
Dina Manfredini
Kimura eclipsed the male longevity record by Christian Mortensen of
California, who died on Dec. 28, 1998, according to Guinness World Records. Kimura, who also became the world’s oldest person after Dina Manfredini of
Iowa died last month, is among 22 Japanese listed on the world’s 64 oldest people compiled by the Los Angeles-based
Gerontology Research Group.
Born on April 19, 1897, the third of six children to a couple of rice and vegetable farmers, Kimura married his neighbor, Yae, and helped deliver his town’s mail for more than 40 years, during a period marked by malnutrition-causing food shortages. He also spent several months in a government communication unit in
Korea in 1920 during Japan’s occupation.
Kimura’s main health challenges have been
cataracts and a bout of pneumonia years ago, said Eiko Kimura, the granddaughter-in-law who cares for him in the two-story wooden house he built in the 1960s. He has normal
blood pressure and a good appetite -- eating three meals a day consisting of porridge, miso soup and vegetables.
During a brief visit to his home recently, Kimura said he appreciated being called on by a reporter traveling to see him from
Tokyo. He no longer hears well and spends most of his days in bed, Eiko said.
‘Eat Light’
Kimura’s motto is “eat light to live long,” and says the key to his longevity is to be a healthy, small eater, Guinness World Records said in a Dec. 28 statement in which it acknowledged his status as the oldest male on record and oldest living person.
“Grandpa is positive and optimistic,” Eiko said. “He becomes cheerful when he has guests. Even when he falls ill, I can tell he’ll recover.”
Kimura, who has 14 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 13 great-great-grandchildren, had few work stresses and was always very sensible, serious and disciplined, his nephew Miyake said. Even when enjoying a drink with his brothers, he would sit straight, keep quiet and remain composed, he said.
“He has an amazing strong will to live,” said Miyake, 80, in an interview. “He is strongly committed to living right and well.”
Lean for Longevity
People who survive at least 100 years tend to be lean and not have diabetes or
diseased arteries, according to Nobuyoshi Hirose, director of geriatric medicine at
Keio University in Tokyo, who has
studied Kimura and at least 500 other Japanese centenarians.
Female centenarians have twice the level of the hormone
adiponectin than younger women, Hirose and colleagues found in a
study published in 2006. The hormone is secreted by fat cells that regulates the metabolism of lipids and glucose, and influences the body’s response to insulin.
Typically centenarians are more open and optimistic about life, Hirose observed. The women tend to be more conscientious and extroverted, while the men are less likely to be neurotic than non-centenarians, according to his
research, published in the journal Age in 2006.
Land of Centenarians
Japan, with the world’s highest proportion of elderly and most centenarians, had
51,376 people older than 100 years as of September, 7.6 percent more than a year earlier, the health ministry said. The nation has 40 centenarians per 100,000 people, compared with 25 per 100,000 people in the U.S., according to the
Okinawa Centenarian Study.
The oldest person ever to have lived is the late Jeanne Calment of
France, who survived 122 years and 164 days, according to Guinness World Records.
Since Kimura’s birth,
life expectancy has been extended by 39 years to become the world’s longest. Babies born in Japan today can expect to reach 83 years. Infant mortality now stands at 2.3 deaths per 1,000 births, compared with 155 per 1,000 when Kimura was born, according to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
Even still, Japan’s population is shrinking thanks to falling fertility. It fell by 212,000 last year, the nation’s health ministry estimates.
That’s the largest reduction since the ministry started collecting the data in 1947 and a sixth-straight year of declines. The number of births in 2012 fell by 18,000 to a record low of 1.03 million, the ministry said in a statement yesterday.
