Centenarians : A new age without limits

[Music] on a remote island between the east china sea and the pacific ocean this 100 year old is being honored today as an icon of longevity at 101 years old hannah shenzhou still takes care of her mandarin trees every day these two women live in okinawa in the village of ojimi on the other side of the world in california centenarian herb wills keeps fit and healthy just like 99 year old alice robbins sardinian giuseppe mourinho who's 105 still tends to his vines and enjoys the fruits of his labor at every meal and in bayonne france odette dallas is about to celebrate her 102nd birthday in just a few decades the number of centenarians worldwide has risen from several hundred to hundreds of thousands to discover the secret of their longevity researchers are studying them in the four corners of the world they want to find out how these men and women who defy the loss of time have made it to the century mark they want to explain why our questions and fears about the limits to life and the aging of the population are focused on today's centenarians [Music] our journey to discover the secrets of long life begins in japan on the island of okinawa the land of the immortals elders are worshipped here [Music] the japanese live longer than anyone else on the planet there are forty thousand centenarians in japan and nine of them live in the village of ojimi [Music] on the outskirts of bojimi there's an old stone marker inscribed with the words at 80 you are still a child and if at 90 someone from heaven invites you over tell him just go away and come back when i'm at least 100. time expands here it's as if the hands of the village's clocks turn differently than those in the rest of the world one third of ogemi's 3 500 residents are over 65. [Music] in 1995 the world health organization declared it humanity's oldest village the number of centenarians in japan has doubled every decade since 1980 some demographers estimate there could be as many as 1 million by the year 2050 but here in ojimi people do not simply live to a ripe old age they remain vigorous healthy and alert it's the month of october or to be more precise the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar all the members of the komisu family including those who live abroad are gathering together this morning they wouldn't miss today's special event for the world [Music] mrs komisu is 97 today in okinawa this is the age where a person officially becomes a centenarian according to the traditional calendar followed by the okinawans every 12th birthday is celebrated as a significant milestone reaching this final milestone is seen as an achievement it gives those who attain it the status of living icon [Applause] this celebration which is called kajimaya the windmill festival is much more than a family affair mrs komisu and her procession will parade through the streets of ojimi and surrounding villages all day the whole community is included in the kajimaya ceremony it is an immense honor for a family to show off their centenarian as she is cheered on by the villagers mrs komisu gives some of her longevity to the community's younger members she shares her strength with them and in return accepts the honors and congratulations befitting her status [Applause] receives an official certificate then her family and friends joined together to celebrate the birth of this new centenarian [Music] [Music] in ochimi residents over 90 years of age are given special care and support the very elderly are registered on a list and receive regular checkups a range of different activities is offered to them every month [Music] which are held four times a week these 90 year olds and centenarians do not only keep fit and strong they also cultivate the art of being together of being happy together [Music] [Applause] yes and for those who don't want to or are unable to leave their homes the discovery of a pile of old photos is an opportunity to pay them a visit yoshiharu miyagi takes care of the centenarians in his neighborhood several times a week he visits anna shinjo a hundred and one-year-old woman known by everyone in ojimi is hana-san [Music] [Music] um [Music] foreign [Music] was born in 1910 she is the youngest and only surviving member of a family of five sisters the life of this granddaughter of a warlord disgraced when okinawa was annexed by japan in 1879 has been marked by suffering and poverty as a child she worked in the fields then on the emperor's great building projects [Music] in 1932 she gave birth to her son sir you one liberated will never return the battle of okinawa in 1945 was an immense tragedy for the islanders she lived through the fighting the exodus and then starvation in american internment camps on the island 101 000 had to be wiped out before victory was achieved the memorial in ojimi commemorating all those who died in the battle of okinawa list the names of every member of hannah shinzo's family her husband her sisters and her parents only she and her son survived every day 95 year old yazoo togoshi visits her friend hannah shinzo were 11 and 5 years old respectively the war and the years of hardship they endured made them friends for life together they carry on the tradition of moais in okinawan culture a moai is a group of friends neighbors or relatives who get together regularly to give or receive social emotional and occasionally financial support according to a major medical study begun over 30 years ago by japanese and american researchers very elderly people with an active social life are less prone to illness and depression the incidence of heart disease is five times lower among okinawan seniors than their north american counterparts and they suffer less from cancer and age-related diseases such as alzheimer's since 1975 dr makoto suzuki has studied the lives of two thousand five hundred centenarians in okinawa all of his findings are stored here in these files free radicals are known to damage the body's cells and accelerate aging the more you eat the more free radicals your body produces can okinawan's longevity be attributed to their traditional diet when they eat together hannah shinjo and her son make do with a simple meal of vegetables tofu local soya cheese some rice and a bit of fish or meat [Music] in naha okinawa's capital a researcher is also studying the longevity secrets of the island centenarians for gerontologist craig wilcox the diet they have always eaten is a laboratory of preventive medicine nutrition is very important throughout your life and what we see with most of the centenarians in okinawa is is the eating a traditional okinawan diet which is uh very low in caloric density but very nutrient dense it's kind of the the ideal diet to achieve healthy aging the elderly villagers of ogemi grow most of their food in her garden dietitian imi san grows goya a native cucumber beans and wild herbs vegetables not found in any local grocery store every day she uses this produce to make meals for the customers at a restaurant ironically this diet was born of hardship these people have been eating a very a diet that's very low in caloric density yet it's nutritionally dense that was a natural phenomenon people just didn't have access to these sugar and calorie-rich foods they had access to sweet potatoes and then green leafy vegetables soups it's a little bit of tofu in there some healthy beans a little bit of fish now and then a little bit of lean meat now and then this is the kind of diet that you want to eat if you want to live a long and healthy life and cut your risk for age-associated disease many of these foods are eaten in the most natural form possible raw or lightly cooked they are the basis of a varied diet that's low in calories yet highly nutritious imi san offers more than tasty well-balanced meals at a restaurant she shares the secrets of okinawa centenarians with her customers restaurant practices the philosophy of hara hachibu according to this confucian inspired adage you must eat slowly and stop when your stomach is 80 full many okinawans live by this rule and believe it it is essential for a long and healthy life [Music] foreign [Music] wants to share a secret with us we have been waiting for her grandson to arrive since six o'clock this morning hana shinjo has visited this garden every week since she was born she inherited the small patch of land from her father who inherited it from his father the garden is her and her family's pride and joy coming here to tend to her mandarin trees is absolutely vital for her as she is becoming weary with age and life's trials most of the these centenaries in okinawa that i've met seem to have some kind of uh raison d'etre you know they have a kind of what they call an icky guy a reason to get out of bed in the morning you know when you're 100 you know i mean every day as a gift when you're over 100 is yet you have to view it that way you know if you lose the the enthusiasm for living life i mean you're finished [Music] but now in the land of the rising sun there is a disturbing new phenomenon over the past several years lifestyles have changed dramatically with the rise of junk food and high fat diets the incidence of obesity and diabetes has increased threefold cardiovascular and cerebral diseases have risen significantly among the under 65s but the most affected are the 20 to 40 year olds and the death rate in this age group has risen sharply today for the first time ever there are two very different populations in japan the over 65s who are going to live longer and longer and the younger generations whose life expectancy is much shorter [Music] [Music] [Music] hello [Music] cardiovascular disease and diabetes affect 1 in 10 americans or 30 million people and result in two and a half million deaths each year [Music] an estimated one in three americans is obese obesity has become the second cause of death in the united states 75 percent of american children born after the year 2000 could die before they are 70. in 1975 the united states had the third highest life expectancy among the world's 12 most developed countries in 2009 it had the lowest [Music] but there is a place in the united states where people lead longer healthier lives than other americans loma linda a town 100 kilometers from los angeles has 20 thousand residents a high proportion of these are over 90 years of age and there are a dozen centenarians this extreme longevity isn't the only thing the residents of loma linda have in common they all belong to the same religious denomination they are members of the seventh-day adventist church which currently has worldwide membership of 15 to 20 million formerly established in the 19th century under the leadership of pastor james white and his wife preacher ellen white this branch of protestant christianity is distinguished by its observance of saturday as the sabbath and a doctrine with an emphasis on health this doctrine created by dr john harvey kellogg the future founder of the famous cereal brand formed the basis of a health care system and was a way for the church to attract more and more members by the start of the 20th century the adventist had established a presence on every continent but the church's headquarters remained in the united states where a number of towns including loma linda are its nerve centers how can the adventist doctrine influence the life expectancy of its members dr gary frazier and his team hope to answer this question about 20 years ago the doctor discovered that members of the seventh-day adventist church live five to 11 years longer than their fellow americans is it just the social support that they're part of a community and we know from other research that being a part of a community whether it's a church community or a village or some other club or society does seem to be important even being married or not being married particularly for men seems to be important so there could be just a social support aspect to this religion question or it could be much more specific than that uh for instance it could be having a faith in god someone who's greater than yourself someone who can perhaps protect and look over you that this might give relief to anxiety and stress [Music] alice robbins is 99 a widow she has lived for the past six years at loma linda valley an adventist institution for the church's most elderly members alice chose this religion in 1928 when she met her future husband a pastor her faith has never left her i read the bible about the first thing in the morning i you know i repeat the bible text and i get up about five o'clock and i pray and then i read the bible till perhaps 6 15. the bible is so important to me and what i like about the bible it is so sensible it tells us exactly how to livers in the book of proverbs it says there's a time to laugh and there's a time to refrain from laughing and i like to laugh a lot and then there's also a text let me see it says a merry heart doeth good like a medicine so i like that text i like to be merry and happy but sensible [Music] good morning hi hi alice she's the other alice hi gertrude honey alice has her breakfast at 6 30 every morning like many adventists she is a vegetarian the church has always advocated a healthy lifestyle its members must abstain from tobacco alcohol meat caffeinated drinks and spices every morning for the past 80 years alice has eaten fruits cereals nuts and grains the only infringement of the doctrine a glass of soya milk and a slice of wholemeal bread two or three times a week [Music] dr gary frazier believes the adventist dietary habits lessen the risk of heart disease and some forms of cancer of which many americans are victims that the people that are more religious are the people that are more likely to be vegetarian more likely to be interested in their health because it's actually part of our religion perhaps more likely to be physically active and so it could be that the religious faith operates in part by changing behavior as well it's been a nice day even though it's maybe a little rainy well i'm just about a few months away from being a hundred and i do praise the lord i think he kept me all these years but it's not only my faith in him i believe in following health principles i have followed that diet most of my life and i i think it has been a wonderful help to me ben 2 3 4 five six seven eight cross two three four five six seven eight flat two three four five six [Music] eight [Music] herb wills is a hundred years old this widower father of three and former bible salesman lives on his own he only leaves his home to spend time with other members of his church and to work out at the gym i find that it's important to me to go over to the gymnasium three times a week maybe four and on the diet i feel that i am definitely blessed by staying away from certain nutrients and having another diet in another direction such as heavily in the way of vegetarian and fruit diet that's god's original diet for man i believe that there's a very definite relationship between christianity walking in christ's way and longevity provided we follow the teachings that he makes available to us the scripture says the just shall live by faith of course faith in what one has to have faith in something i have faith in god religion enhances our ability to make long-term choices to stay away from the the short-term gratification people who attend church may have a greater sense of self-worth a greater sense of their capabilities that may arise from being involved in a church every saturday herb wills observes the sabbath and goes to church [Music] according to the researchers studying the adventists spending time with people who share their values and habits is the main reason why there is a higher percentage of centenarians among them than among the population as a whole the next part of our journey to discover the secrets of the centenarians takes us to sardinia deep in the province of new oro a remote mountainous region in the northwest of the island in the rest of the world the vast majority of centenarians are women but in this region as many men as women live to be a hundred years of age this fact was discovered by dr gianni pess according to him the village of villegrande has the longest life expectancy and the highest proportion of elderly citizens in sardinia village [Music] europa the 30 centenarians buried in villegrandi were all born between 1847 and 1907. the oldest two women lived to 107 the youngest a man died at the age of 100 on his birthday of these centenarians 17 are men and 13 women a phenomenon no one has yet been able to explain [Music] could the traditional sardinian way of life be a factor could it be the environment for dr gianni pes there are many avenues to explore and the answers are to be found among the four centenarians who live in vila grande today [Music] at 105 giuseppe mourinho is the oldest among them [Music] [Music] hey [Music] gianni pess and his assistant have been visiting mr moreno regularly for the past six months and the 200 other sardinian centenarians that gianni pess has met since he began his investigation all worked as shepherds shepherding involves intense physical work gianni pess believes another element plays an important role isolation it has meant certain traditions have been preserved and favored a simple healthy lifestyle enabling residents to live longer and in good health [Music] while researching at village hyundai town hall gianni pess made another discovery that is even more astonishing than sardinian longevity itself [Music] was born in 1778 she is the oldest centenarian found so far in sardinia this information is crucial it proves that the tradition of reaching 100 years of age goes back several centuries and could well be hereditary utilized foreign according to gianni pes the sardinians have turned their unique history in isolation to their advantage [Music] the first people to settle the island about 10 000 years ago became genetic incubators amplifying certain traits over generations [Music] even today 75 percent of them are directly related to the first sardinians what if they had a genetic predisposition to longevity [Music] at the laboratory in la nuzai 30 kilometers from villa grande scientists are trying to establish the hereditary basis of this longevity over the past year they have studied 6 000 people aged between 16 and 104 who live in four neighboring villages [Music] the first results have revealed that the probability of a relative or a centenarian also becoming a centenarian is about 40 higher than for an individual chosen at random from the population over half of sardinian centenarians have a 90 year old brother or sister and at least one of their parents lived to the age of 90. but for professor francesco kuka the secret of sardinian longevity lies in the combination of a number of ideal factors such as lifestyle and environment genes are only part of the story is [Music] how have centenarians reach the symbolic line after the marathon of life was everything decided in the first few kilometers or rather at the end of the race when all the other runners had withdrawn philippe amiriel director of the public health unit at the institute pasteur de lille sees centenarians as an ideal example of aging they do not have or show few signs of common age-related diseases such as alzheimer's disease [Music] researchers are particularly interested in one of these genes the apoe gene depending on its form in the genome apoe influences the risk of alzheimer's disease one variant increases an individual's risk of developing the disease while another reduces this risk [Music] following several studies researchers have made an astonishing discovery the majority of centenarians have the protective form of the gene [Music] now teams from the institute pasteur working with other international laboratories want to compare the genetic makeup of 20 000 alzheimer patients with that of 50 000 randomly chosen control subjects will genetics enable us for the first time in the history of humanity to combat the negative effects of some genes and increase our lifespan as for longevity research on animals has already provided some spectacular results at the french national center for scientific research in toulouse biologist eric labour has increased the lifespan of flies by 20 percent by subjecting them to changes in temperature or gravity longer thanks to science is a dream for some and a nightmare for others household no one is afraid of growing old tomorrow children grandchildren great-grandchildren and friends will be getting together to celebrate the 102nd birthday of their mammy note [Music] mommy note is the nickname of odette dallas who was born in ush on october the 29th 1908 [Music] [Music] [Music] a [Music] dallas belongs to the french centenarians club a club whose membership continues to grow on january the 1st 2010 there were 15 000 centenarians in france it now has the second highest life expectancy in the world in 1900 there were just 100 centenarians in france and the average age of death was 45. now thanks to improvements in hygiene working conditions healthcare and living standards in general life expectancy is 79 for men and 84 for women france has the most centenarians in the world after japan [Music] foreign the birthdays of odette's childhood are a distant memory and she is no longer excited about being a year older but surrounded by friends and family she enjoys every second and feels pride in growing older [Applause] which age is odette really from at 102 how does she manage to fit into an era in which she hardly participates anymore or from a great distance for demographer jean-marie robin the most urgent question is not how to reach the age of 100 but what to do when you are the proportion of the personality who sounds [Music] by 2050 there could be between two hundred thousand and four hundred thousand centenarians in france are we ready to face the challenge posed by the longevity revolution that is already underway the issues of increased longevity and the aging of the population must be addressed as a matter of urgency to better prepare for the future together with other international laboratories the demography and health team at the french national institute of health and medical research in montpellier is working on a new study to better anticipate the health social and economic consequences of the huge increase in centenarians for the first time ever researchers are going to attempt to precisely measure their state of health and analyze how society integrates them difficulties even though many secrets remain today's centenarians are challenging our notion of old age this takes two forms wisdom symbolized by white hair and the idea still fixed in many people's minds of physical deterioration and mental decline [Music] today in france many experts believe one and two girls born after 2005 will become a centenarian this theory could become reality if life expectancy continues to increase but is it really desirable some centenarians have proved it's possible to grow old well in this respect they are invaluable as they are the first to experience a century of life in modern society they are the vanguard the pioneers of a revolution of which our children and grandchildren will be the protagonists [Applause] so [Music] you

Channel: Best Documentary

Views: 15,302

Keywords: documentary, old, age, secrets, health, wellness, longevity., documentaries, aging

Id: i7vJIXtAhi8

Length: 52min 17sec (3137 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 22 2021