What’s the Secret to Living to 100? Blood Tests Might Hold Clues to Longevity

What does it take to live to 100 or beyond? New research suggests the answer might lie in better understanding the metabolic profiles of people who’ve hit that centenarian mark. 

The study, published last month in the journal GeroScience, sought to investigate what’s unique about people who live to at least 100 years old, looking at specific body functions prior to them reaching extreme old age.

Though exceptional longevity—which can be defined as surviving longer than 85 years—is the result of a combination of things including genetics and lifestyle factors, researchers discovered that centenarians had lower levels of glucose, uric acid, and creatinine in their blood, compared to people who did not reach the 100-year mark.

What’s more: Those differences in blood biomarkers were seen as early as 65 years old—35 years before they would have turned 100.

“It somewhat speaks against pure chance to explain why some people reach 100 years and some don’t,” lead study author Shunsuke Murata, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the Karolinska Institutet, told Health, adding that it was “rather surprising” to observe that “differences in blood biomarkers between centenarians and non-centenarians can be visible” at such a long time before their deaths.

For the study, researchers used data from 44,636 people who were part of the AMORIS (Apolipoprotein-related MOrtality RISk) cohort, who received routine and outpatient clinical laboratory testing at the Central Automation Laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden between 1985 and 1996.

Out of this number, 1,224 people reached their 100th birthday, which is statistically similar to the number of people who hit that age in Stockholm at large in the same time frame. The biomarker measurements for these individuals were followed up through the end of 2020. 

The researchers examined 12 biomarkers tied to inflammation and liver, kidney, and metabolic function, along with potential anemia and malnutrition.

The biomarkers included uric acid for inflammation, total cholesterol and glucose for metabolic function and status, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, albumin, gamma-glutamyl transferase, alkaline phosphatase, and lactate dehydrogenase for liver function, creatinine for kidney functioning, iron and iron-binding capacity for anemia, and albumin for nutrition.

Centenarians were shown to have lower—but not exceptionally lower—levels of glucose, uric acid, and creatinine in their blood, compared to people who did not live as long.

In fact, those who lived to 100 had relatively uniform biomarker profiles overall—meaning they rarely had values at the low or high end of healthy ranges.

According to Murata, this study is the first to explore which biomarkers are associated with longevity in such a large cohort—but much more research is needed to fully understand all of the underlying factors for longevity.

“For example, in this study, we explored the biomarkers one by one; a next step will be to account for combinations of them,” said Murata. “Also, we are not sure to what extent the biomarker values only resemble lifestyle, or to what extent they also resemble genetic factors.”

In putting this research in context, outside experts say it only further adds to our growing understanding of exactly what contributes to our longevity. It’s a field that is ever-evolving, and this metabolic profile comparison between these centenarians might offer a key for all of us in better understanding what we can all do to live longer lives.

Lower values of uric acid, creatinine, and glucose in a person’s blood points to an overall healthier lifestyle, according to Rekha B. Kumar, MD, MS, an endocrinologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian who is unaffiliated with this study.

“I do believe that nutrition and lifestyle are factors,” said Kumar. “The biomarkers noted are all modifiable rather than genetically set in stone.”

Lower levels of creatinine, for example—a byproduct of your body digesting protein and breaking down muscle tissue—could suggest better renal function, according to Luke D. Kim, MD, MEd, AGSF, a Geriatrician at Center for Geriatric Medicine, Cleveland Clinic. Meanwhile, lower levels of glucose (the amount of sugar in your blood) could mean better metabolic profiles in centenarians.

A lower uric acid value also lends itself to a healthier lifestyle: “Uric acid, a marker influenced by various factors, including diet and alcohol consumption, displayed differences between the two groups,” said Murata. “These findings suggest that diet and lifestyle factors, such as alcohol consumption, may play a role in exceptional longevity.”

Lower levels of these three biomarkers in centenarians suggest healthy behaviors—like living an active lifestyle, and reducing meat, sugar, and alcohol intake—may result in longevity, said Kumar.

This study, like others before it, offers more information on what might contribute to longevity, but it doesn’t offer a definitive explanation for why someone might live to 100 and someone else might pass away decades before that point.

Instead, it reaffirms that “while chance likely plays a role in reaching an exceptional age, it is not the sole determinant,” said Murata.

“Although our study doesn’t provide a definitive roadmap for a longer life, it does emphasize the importance of maintaining healthy lifestyle choices and potentially modifying specific factors like alcohol consumption to improve one’s chances of living a longer, healthier life,” added Murata.

For those who want to know what they can do to contribute to greater longevity, Kim said that you have to stay up to date with preventive measures like needed health screenings to identify common diseases like hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and hyperlipidemia, among others.

“I would encourage people to always keep moving,” added Kumar. “It does not need to be extreme structured exercise but just activity of any sort to keep blood flowing, muscles active, glucose metabolism strong, and ligaments and joints flexible. All of this improves metabolic health but also reduces risk of injury.”

“There are many fancy studies out there, such as efforts to lower insulin release from the body,” added Kim. “But again, for the general public, it is important to keep important health measures, such as blood pressure and general checkup to identify other common illnesses.”