Male Okinawan Lifespan

[Guest guest]

Francesca:

I have seen two 77 years numbers. One 76.8 the other 77.2

This is how to find the 77.2 number:

Click " Links "

Click " Okinawan Longevity "

Click " Okinawaprogram.com "

Click " Centenarians " (at the top)

Go to bottom of page and click " click here "

Go to fourth paragraph of this page, which I paste below:

" Evidence-based Extreme Longevity: The Case of Okinawa, Japan

B. J. Willcox, D.C. Willcox, M. Suzuki.

Division of Gerontology, Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center,

Harvard Medical School; College of Nursing, Okinawa Prefectural

University; Department of Gerontology, Okinawa International

University and Okinawa Gerontology Research Center.

At present it is generally accepted that there are approximately 10

centenarians per 100,000 people in most industrialized countries.

Nevertheless, we have documented a much higher prevalence of

centenarians in Okinawa, a prefecture (state) of Japan that consists

of a group of 44 inhabited islands that stretches 800 miles between

the Japan main islands and Taiwan.

In a demographic survey of the entire Okinawan population we

identified a total of 427 centenarians out of a population of 1.27

million inhabitants. Ages were validated through the koseki (family

registry) system that has been recording complete birth, marriage,

and death statistics for every Okinawan-Japanese citizen since 1879.

A prevalence of 33.6 centenarians per 100,000 population was

identified of which 85.7% were female. The age range was 100-111 with

a mean age of 101.6 There were 35 (8.2%) centenarians over the age of

105 and 1 (0.2%) over the age of 110. This is the highest prevalence

of centenarians ever documented with a reliable database. Okinawan

emigration is balanced by the highest fertility rate in Japan with a

net positive population growth so this phenomenon cannot be

attributed to attrition of younger age groups.

Okinawa has the longest life expectancy in Japan, and likely the

world, at 85.1 years for women and 77.2 years for men (Japan Ministry

of Health,1995) therefore it seems plausible that this high

centenarian prevalence is secondary to a higher percentage of

Okinawans living closer to the maximum human life span than in other

populations. Further study is required to identify the reasons behind

this fascinating phenomenon.

We thank the Japan Ministry of Health, the Japan Foundation for Aging

and Health (JAFAH), and the Division on Aging, Harvard Medical School

for their support. BW is a JAFAH Scholar.

Scientific abstract of research presented at the Presidential Poster

Session of the American Geriatrics Society Annual Meeting, 2001. "