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Centenarians age differently: Slower disease progression in those who live to 100
Last reviewed: 09.08.2025
Reaching 100 does not necessarily mean a life of illness. New research from the Karolinska Institutet shows that centenarians not only live longer, but also stay healthier than other older people, have fewer illnesses, and develop them more slowly.
A study published in eClinicalMedicine compared people who lived to 100 with those who died earlier. The results show that centenarians not only suffer from fewer diseases, but also develop them more slowly.
While many older adults rapidly accumulate multiple diagnoses in their later years, the disease burden in centenarians appears to level off around age 90. They are more likely to have diseases limited to one organ system and have significantly fewer comorbid conditions.
The study also shows that cardiovascular disease is less common in centenarians and occurs later in life. Neuropsychiatric disorders are also less common among those who live the longest.
"Our results challenge the widely held belief that longer life inevitably means more illness. We show that centenarians follow a special ageing curve with slower disease progression and greater resistance to common age-related diseases," says the final author of the paper, Karin Modig, associate professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet.
Aging in Different Ways
The study included the entire Swedish birth cohort of 1920–22 — more than 270,000 people. Scientists tracked the health of the participants from age 70 through three decades. The progression of diseases in centenarians was compared with those who lived shorter lives using national health registries. The results show that centenarians not only delay the onset of diseases — they actually age differently.
"We show that exceptional longevity is not simply a postponement of disease. It is a reflection of a unique pattern of aging. The results suggest that centenarians maintain homeostasis and disease resistance despite aging and physiological stress, possibly due to a favorable combination of genes, lifestyle, and environment," says Modig.