Spanish scientists confirm that centenarians have less sugar and uric acid in their blood.

A study led by researchers from the Central Catalonia Research Support Unit of the Jordi Gol Primary Care Research Institute (IDIAPJGol) and the Catalan Health Institute of Central Catalonia, as well as the Statistics, Economics and Health Research Group (GRECS) of the University of Girona (UdG), confirms that people who live more than 100 years have low levels of glucose , creatinine and uric acid in their blood.

The study compared blood biomarkers in people over 100 years old with those under 100. The authors point out that blood biomarkers only explain part of the phenomenon and that social factors must also be considered.

Furthermore, the study shows that many centenarians lived in urban areas with high levels of inequality : almost 30% lived in areas with high Gini coefficients, which measure inequality in income distribution. Despite these adverse conditions, these individuals achieved exceptional longevity "thanks to factors such as biological resilience, community environment, and a healthy lifestyle."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was observed that people who experienced an improvement in their biomarkers were more likely to live longer, reinforcing the hypothesis of possible biological and social resilience.

This is the first study to examine the relationship between biomarker changes and longevity during the pandemic, simultaneously incorporating individual- and contextual-level data to control for potential confounders.