The Blue Zones: areas of exceptional longevity around the world

Poulain, Michel; Herm, Anne; Pes, Giovanni Mario

doi:10.1553/populationyearbook2013s87

Cited by 100 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This is contrary to the situation for the Nicoya hotspot, where increased centenarian rates are seen only for men [5], and the hotspot in Sardinia, where the survival advantage is stronger for men than for women [1]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

“…Comparison between studies are complicated by different outcome measures and especially different study periods, but the relative increase in probability of becoming a centenarian of 37% can be compared to the 50% increase in probability for the Sardinian blue zone or the three-fold increase in probability for the Sardinian restricted blue zone [1]. Similarly, the age 70-100 death rate ratio of 0.95 for the Langeland hotspot compares to the death rate ratio of 0.8 for Nicoyan men [5].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main island of Langeland experienced mass emigration for a period leading up to the birth of the cohort studied - 30% of the population emigrated in the period 1868-1909 as compared to a national average of 10% [13]. While blue zones are generally poor and rural areas [1], this may be a rare case of those left behind by emigration being the healthier group, an ‘unhealthy migrant-effect’. The landscape of Langeland is not markedly different from the rest of Denmark.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the specific number is an arbitrary marker, becoming a centenarian is not a meaningless indicator of longevity, and the interest in geographical regions where a high proportion of people become centenarians has been ongoing at least since the start of the 20th century [1]. The first of the current generation of well-validated longevity regions is the Sardinian “blue zone” [2], a small group of villages where a particularly large percentage of those born there from 1880 to 1900 become centenarians.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Searching for longevity hotspots in Denmark

Hansen

Mortensen

Westendorp

2018

Aging

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

While existing research on regions with high prevalence of centenarians has focused on selected candidate geographical regions, we explore the existence of hotspots in the whole of Denmark.We performed a Kulldorff spatial scan, searching for regions of birth, and of residence at age 71, where an increased percentage of the cohort born 1906-1915 became centenarians. We then compared mortality hazards for these regions to the rest of the country.We found a birth hotspot of 222 centenarians, 1.37 times more than expected, centered on a group of rural islands. Lower mortality hazards from age 71 onwards were confined to those born within the hotspot and persisted over a period of at least 30 years. At age 71, we found two residence-based hotspots of 348 respectively 238 centenarians, 1.46 and 1.44 times the expected numbers. One hotspot, located in high-income suburbs of the Danish capital, seems driven by selective in-migration of low-mortality individuals. The other hotspot seems driven by selective migration and lower morality among those born and residing in the hotspot.Thus, Danish centenarian hotspots do exist. The locations and interpretation depend on whether we look at place of birth or of residence late in life.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Searching for longevity hotspots in Denmark

Hansen

Mortensen

Westendorp

2018

Aging

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The tea that is regularly drunk is medicinal. While we also conclude with recipes found during our research, our mapping work concerns less the secrets of old age in the places such as Ikaria that have been termed longevity blue zones, and more the implications of greater numbers of older people across European places more generally (Poulain, Herm and Pes, 2013).…”

mentioning

confidence: 64%