The immune status of 17 healthy individuals 100-103 years of age (centenarians) was investigated. Qualitative values for immunoglobulins IgG, IgM, IgA, and IgE were within normal ranges for subjects more than 60 years of age with the exception of elevated IgM in one individual. Cell marker studies employing a panel of 27 monoclonal antibodies delineating T and B lymphocytes, monocytes, natural killer cells, granulocytes, and functional and developmental subsets of each were performed to phenotype the peripheral blood leukocytes. Although the total lymphocyte count was normal in every subject, the numbers of T4-positive helper-inducer T lymphocytes were profoundly depressed, as were responses to the mitogen phytohemagglutinin and interleukin-2 production. Activated immature T lymphocytes and the number of cells bearing the phenotype of natural killer cells were increased, but natural killer cell activity was normal. Early B lymphocytes were also increased. The relative concentration of monocytes was normal. Taken together these findings indicate that the immune system in centenarians is similar to that in younger but still elderly individuals, i.e., discriminating T-lymphoid functions are reduced in association with an apparent failure of some T, B, and natural killer cells to differentiate to functional maturity.
A social and clinical evaluation was performed on thirty Kentucky centenarians. The majority of the subjects were women (19/30), white (27/30), either widows or widowers (26/30), and lived in long term care facilities (15/30). Only one of thirty had ever smoked cigarettes and there was an absence of excessive alcohol use. Medication use varied from 0 to 9 medications. Digitalis, diuretics, and anti-inflammatory medications were common (12; 16; 15 respectively) while major and minor tranquilizers were less frequently used (7 and 4). Hypertension was present in 48%. Although rarely functionally significant, clinically evident cardiac disease was present in 38%. Ninety-three percent lacked vibratory sensation at the ankles while ankle jerks were absent in 82%. Functionally significant diminished vision and hearing were frequent (40% and 60% respectively). Functional assessment demonstrated moderate to nearly complete independence in 57%, while the remaining 43% were significantly to nearly totally dependent on others. The primary conclusion is that for all they have in common, centenarians remain unique individuals with a tremendous variability among themselves.
Ten healthy and mentally alert centenarians underwent cranial computed tomography (CT) using a fourth-generation CT scanner. The subjects ranged in age from 100 to 102 years, and included six women and four men. Two of them used alcohol on a daily basis and five had systolic blood pressures of at least 160 mmHg. The CT scans demonstrated considerable variation in the degree of cerebral atrophy, which had no relation to either sex, alcohol use, or hypertension. Three of the centenarians had evidence of mild periventricular white matter lucency. Although progressive cerebral atrophy is an integral aspect of the normal aging process in the very elderly, its exact relationship to cognitive function remains unclear.
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