WORLD: Only 10 of 75 Supercentenarians Alive Are Men

LOS ANGELES, Ca (Gerontology Center), August 3, 2008: The world has 75 Supercentenarians alive today, according to updated records of the Los Angeles Gerontology Research Group. Stating this, Dr. L. Stephen M.D., Ph.D., Co-Founder of the Research Group, added that 65 of the 75 Supercentenarians as on August 1, 2008 are women. Supercentenarians are persons 110 years or older, information about whom has been confirmed a thorough verification procedure before being listed in the records of the Los Angeles Gerontology Research Group. The Group has been recognized by The Guinness Book of World Records as a world authority on human longevity for its rigorous validation of the age claims of Supercentenarians. Dr. Coles, a specialist in "interventional biogerontology" -- seeking the "Fountain of Youth," or "searching for the means to achieve radical life-extension with youthful decades waiting in the wings, hopefully within our own lifetimes. We presently recognize 75 Validated Living Supercentenarians -- 65 women and 10 men," he told Seniors World Chronicle today. In September 2006 the Group created a tax-exempt "Supercentenarian Research Foundation" to fund tissue sampling of all living Supercentenarians. The aim of the Foundation is "to develop a rigorous, statistically-significant database of the most important SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) of 'gerontic' (longevity) genes." "We have come to learn in the last few years that the phenotype of longevity is inherited in the DNA ('choose your parents wisely') more than it is influenced by life-style choices that clearly impact the expression of these gerontic genes ('watch what you do for exercise, nutrition, vitamin supplements, etc.')." Dr. Coles is also a collaborator in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at UCLA, where he has performed autopsies on six] Supercentenarians. Only a grand total of nine such autopsies are known to have been done in all of history. The Current GRG Table of Worldwide Validated Living Supercentenarians lists Edna Parker of Indiana (born April 20, 1893) as the oldest living person today. She is over 115 years old. Second on the list is Maria de Jesus of Portugal (born September 10, 1893), 114 years, 325 days old. See the GRG Table of Supercentenarians Source: Dr. L. Stephen Coles scoles@grg.org