Inherited Longevity? Children of Centenarians Show Lower Death and Heart Disease Risk

A new JAMA Network Open analysis of three longitudinal cohorts, involving more than 2,300 offspring of centenarians and over 1,700 controls, finds that centenarian offspring have markedly lower mortality and reduced risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (32% and 33% respectively; 42% lower risk of death) compared with peers, with disease onset delayed by about five years for hypertension and three years for death. Cancer risk did not show a significant reduction. While healthy lifestyles matter, these results suggest inherited biological advantages linked to longevity may help protect offspring even after accounting for environment and behavior.