Centenarian
[4] According to a 1998 United Nations demographic survey, Japan is expected to have 272,000 centenarians by 2050;[5] other sources suggest that the number could be closer to 1 million.
A study[12] which received a 2024 Ig Nobel Prize[13] found these numbers are inflated by welfare and pension fraud and poor record-keeping, neither of which are uniform across jurisdictions.
Inah Canabarro Lucas, Ethel Caterham and Okagi Hayashi are the only verified people currently alive who have reached the 115 years milestone.
[94] Japanese centenarians receive a silver cup and a certificate from the prime minister of Japan upon the Respect for the Aged Day following their 100th birthday, honouring them for their longevity and prosperity in their lives.
[95][96][97] In Madhya Pradesh, India, the award known as Shatayu Samman is given out to people who live at least 100 years to promote awareness of good health.
On 6 July 2022, Pak Hak Sil, a centenarian living in Koup-ri of Kangnam County, Pyongyang, received a birthday letter sent by Kim Jong Un.
[100] In Taiwan, people aged 100 or above receive a golden pendant necklace on Chong Yang Festival each year from the president and Ministry of Health and Welfare.
[107] In Commonwealth realms including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand centenarians can receive congratulations card greetings from the monarch King Charles III on their 100th birthday.
The famous acrobat and tightrope walker Henry Johnson received a congratulatory letter from Edward VII via his royal courtier Viscount Knollys in 1906.
[citation needed] The practice was formalised from 1917, under the reign of King George V, who also sent congratulations then sent by a telegram on the attainment of a diamond wedding anniversary (or jubilee) marking 60 years of marriage.
During the reign of King George V, only 24 telegrams were sent; however, with the aging population, this increased to 273 during 1952, when the longest-reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne.
But as indicated above, far fewer in antiquity survived even from early adulthood to such advanced age – probably under a fifth, compared to a global average of two-thirds today.
The author of a 1994 study concluded that it was only in the second half of the 20th century that medical advances have extended the life expectancy of those who live into adulthood.
[118] Adad-guppi, mother of the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire Nabonidus apparently lived from c. 648-544 BC (c. 104 years) according to inscriptions on funeral steles.
The case of Democritus differs from those of, for example, Epimenides of Crete (7th and 6th centuries BC), who is said to have lived an implausible 154, 157, or 290 years, depending on the source.
Hosius of Córdoba, the man who convinced Constantine the Great to call the First Council of Nicaea, reportedly lived to age 102.
[citation needed] A rare record of an ordinary person who lived to be a centenarian is the tombstone of Roman British legionary veteran Julius Valens, inscribed "VIXIT ANNIS C".
[120] In the medieval period, Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan (d. 1097) is said by Bernold of Constance to have lived past 100 years (iam maior centenario).
[124] Researchers in Denmark have also found that centenarians exhibit a high activity of glutathione reductase in red blood cells.
[126] A variation in the gene FOXO3A is known to have a positive effect on the life expectancy of humans, and is found much more often in people living to 100 and beyond – moreover, this appears to be true worldwide.
[127] Men and women who are 100 or older tend to have extroverted personalities, according to Thomas T. Perls, the director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University.
[133] Many experts attribute Japan's high life expectancy to the typical Japanese diet, which is particularly low in refined simple carbohydrates, and to hygienic practices.
[139] These findings could explain why the cerebellum exhibits fewer neuropathological hallmarks of age related dementias compared to other brain regions.
