September 4, 2026, 6:22 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
Why do some people live to an extraordinary age and remain relatively healthy for a long time? A new study using data from three major long-term studies suggests that part of this advantage might also be observed in the next generation. The researchers examined people whose mother or father lived to be at least 100 years old.
Longevity appears to run in the family
The current analysis from various U.S. institutions shows that children of centenarians have health advantages over those without exceptionally long-lived parents. These are particularly evident in hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, as well as in mortality risk. The differences not only affect the likelihood of developing a disease but also, in some cases, the timing of its onset. The results were published in the journal “Jama Network Open.”1
How the study was conducted
Centenarians are particularly interesting for aging research because they often develop typical age-related diseases relatively late. The researchers wanted to know if this health advantage could also be detected in their children.
To do this, they analyzed data from three long-term studies: the U.S. “LonGenity” study, the “New England Centenarian Study,” and the British UK Biobank. Data from more than 4,000 people were included in the analyses. Individuals with at least one parent who lived to be 100 or older were compared with those whose parents died much earlier. The scientists examined, among other things, when participants developed hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, or cancer, and when they died. They also considered factors such as gender, education, smoking, and other lifestyle habits, as far as the data allowed.
By combining three independent studies, the researchers aimed to determine whether the observed correlations could be found in different population groups.
Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases occur later
The clearest connection was seen with hypertension: The risk was about 32 percent lower for children of centenarians. On average, the disease was also diagnosed about 5.2 years later in them.
There was also an advantage with cardiovascular diseases. The risk of disease was about one-third lower. However, the fact that the diseases also occurred later could not be equally demonstrated in all three studies. This effect was particularly pronounced in the UK Biobank, where cardiovascular diseases appeared about six years later, depending on the comparison group.
The mortality risk was also lower for descendants of centenarians. In the combined analysis, it was about 42 percent lower than that of the comparison groups. Death occurred on average about 3.1 years later.
For strokes, two of the studies also found a lower risk. However, there was no statistically significant advantage for cancer: Neither the risk of disease nor the timing of the disease differed significantly. The researchers suspect that while the descendants are not less likely to develop cancer, they may survive it better due to higher physical resilience. Additionally, their often better health condition might lead them to participate more frequently in preventive examinations, resulting in the early detection of (sometimes harmless) tumors (known as diagnostic bias). Finally, the development of cancer is partly a random process that cannot be completely prevented by the biological protective mechanisms of familial longevity.
The results thus suggest that the health advantage of exceptionally long-lived families mainly concerns certain age-related diseases. Although lifestyle factors play a role, the study reveals something surprising: The health benefits of the descendants were almost entirely independent of their diet, exercise, or smoking habits. This strongly indicates a deeper, biologically genetic protective effect.
Drinking Habits of ‘Blue Zones’ Residents
Can Sport Compensate for a Poor Diet?
Study assessment
The study has several strengths: The researchers analyzed data from three independent long-term studies. Since important results were observed in several of these groups, the findings are further supported.
However, there are also limitations. The scientists could not account for all influences that can affect health and life expectancy. Information on lifestyle and diseases was partly based on participants’ statements and was not always verified with medical records. Information about childhood, such as diet at the time, was also missing. Additionally, most of the individuals studied were white. It is therefore unclear whether the results can be generalized to people from other population groups.
The study was primarily funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. According to the authors, the funders had no influence on the conduct or publication of the study. Some authors disclosed potential conflicts of interest, including research funding, patent applications, and a spouse’s stock ownership in pharmaceutical companies.
Also interesting: Living to 100? What those over 80 should consider in their diet
What other studies show
The observation that longevity runs in families is not new. The Dutch “Leiden Longevity Study” examined children of sibling pairs who lived to be at least 90 years old and compared them with their spouses.2 The advantage of this approach: Both groups lived in the same household, under similar economic conditions, and with comparable habits. Nevertheless, the descendants of long-lived families had lower rates of hypertension, diabetes, and heart attacks in middle age than their partners. The health advantage is thus apparent long before reaching old age.
However, this does not mean that origin determines everything. A 2025 analysis published in “Nature Medicine” of nearly 500,000 people from the UK Biobank compared how much genetic predisposition and living conditions each contribute to mortality risk.3 The result: Genetic risk scores for 22 common diseases explained less than two percentage points of the differences in mortality. Environmental and lifestyle factors–from smoking to physical activity to social and economic conditions–accounted for 17 percentage points. For individual diseases, the relationship was reversed: For dementia and breast, prostate, and colon cancer, genetics weighed more heavily, while for lung, heart, and liver diseases, living conditions were more significant.