Having a parent who lives past 100 is linked to a lower risk of heart disease and early death

People whose parents live beyond the age of 100 may themselves develop some age-related health problems later and may live longer, according to a new study. Researchers in the United States analysed data from three long-running studies in the US and United Kingdom, covering more than 4,000 people. They compared people who had at least one parent who reached 100 with people whose parents had shorter lifespans.Across the studies, the offspring of centenarians had a 42% lower hazard of death, a 33% lower hazard of cardiovascular disease and a 32% lower hazard of high blood pressure in one of the main combined analyses.Their mortality was also delayed by about three years on average, while the onset of hypertension was delayed by around five years.Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally and accounted for 42.5% of deaths in the World Health Organization European Region in 2019.