Blood Panels of People Who Live a Really Long Time

Want to live to 100 or beyond? I do. It would make sense to study those that made it to 100 and look for common threads.

Of course there are probably some immediate ideas the come to mind.

• Eat well

• Exercise

• Sleep a lot

• Don’t smoke

• Don’t drink alcohol - at least to excess

Yet there are some people who smoke all their lives and still make it to the 100 milestone. Scientists chalk that up to genetics or luck.

Not much we can do about genetics or luck.

There are other things we can do. And some scientists tried to take a scientific approach to finding out what.

They reviewed data from a group of people that were tracked for 35 years. The group was called the population-based AMORIS cohort in Sweden and consisted of about 812,000 people originally.

1,224 of those people made it to their 100th birthday. 85% of them were female. Us men out there have a tougher time apparently.

The researchers looked at their blood work and found a lot of similarities. I’d like to go through markers that stood out and what you can do to have your bloodwork mimic theirs.

Some markers were higher than the average for the general population:

• Cholesterol - Yes cholesterol was higher, not lower. Yet we are always told to lower our cholesterol. Sounds like eating meat and avoiding statins might not be so bad?

• Iron - Eating more animal products (meat, fish etc.) will raise your iron levels. Chronic diseases such as celiac, heart and kidney disease can also lower your iron levels. You can avoid all of those diseases with a healthy lifestyle.

Then there are other markers that were lower than the general population:

• Glucose - Given all the horrible things diabetes can do to your body, this is not surprising. A great way to lower blood glucose is a low-carb diet. Another is fasting

• Creatinine - This is a waste product from muscle metabolism which is normally filtered out of the body by the kidneys and urinated out. High creatinine can be the result of kidney problems, certain medications such as antibiotics and heart medications, and high blood pressure

• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) - An enzyme that helps break down amino acids. It is found in the liver, heart and muscles. It’s released into the bloodstream when these body parts are damaged. Several medications can raise your AST levels including acetaminophen (Tylenol), NSAIDs (aspirin, Advil, Aleve), ACE inhibitors (blood pressure meds), statins, some antibiotics and some antifungal medications

• Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT) - An enzyme found all over your body but especially in liver and bile ducts. It is important for your body’s detoxification process. Increased amounts of GGT are the result of liver damage (alcohol consumption or fatty liver anyone?), diabetes, cardiovascular disease and smoking. Some medications can also raise the levels including anti-seizure medications (like phenytoin and phenobarbital, carbamazepine), some anticoagulants (like heparin, warfarin), immunosuppressives (like methotrexate), and certain other prescription and non-prescription drugs such as NSAIDs, antibiotics, antifungals, antidepressants, oral contraceptives, Hormones, and statins

• Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) - Another enzyme found in the liver and bones. It has a crucial role in bone mineralization and bile production. Higher ALP can be the result of liver damage, bone issues like fractures and tumors, cancers, inflammatory diseases and, once again, certain medications. Medications like antibiotics, anticonvulsants, and heart disease medications

• Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) - an enzyme involved in cellular energy production. When tissues internally become damaged, LDH levels rise. Several medications including anesthetics, aspirin, narcotics, and procainamide can raise LDH levels.

Seems like there is a common theme if you want to live to be a centenarian. Do what you can to minimize the medications you are taking. Of course this is not medical advice. But it is very interesting to see that all these medications move your markers in the wrong direction.