Does an Italian village with smoking centenarians hide the secret to long life

[canavare]

_http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/blog.html?b=news.nationalpost.com/news/world/does-an-italian-village-filled-with-cigarette-smoking-centenarians-hide-the-secret-to-long-life

Andrea Vogt, The Telegraph
Friday, Apr. 1, 2016


A view of Acciaroli, a southern Italy village Fotolia

An international research team studying 300 centenarians in a remote Mediterranean fishing village say that eating rosemary could be the key to the pensioners’ remarkable longevity.

A team of medical experts and scholars at the Sapienza University of Rome and University of California San Diego have been granted the first ever permission to closely study the elderly residents of the coastal hamlet of Acciaroli, south of Salerno.

Nestled between unspoilt mountain scenery and the pristine sea, Acciaroli has earned a reputation among tourists as one of the pearls of the Mediterranean — and, for foodies, of the famed Mediterranean diet. Now, the local mayor has agreed to allow the Italian and U.S. researchers to collaborate with local doctors and their patients to more systematically investigate the village’s secret to a long life.

“The goal of this long-term study is to find out why this group of 300 is living so long, by conducting a full genetic analysis and examining lifestyle behaviours, like diet and exercise,” said Alan Maisel, professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego.

Researchers are puzzled with how the residents have been able to live for so long. Most are smokers and it’s rare to see anyone exercising, leading to a majority of the residents being overweight.

Rosemary was an obvious starting point, the researchers say, as its health benefits have been widely studied and it is one of the ingredients used by most of the town’s elderly residents.


“Rosemary is very diffused here and has been shown to have metabolic benefits for longevity so it is one of the strong factors of many we are looking at,” said Salvatore Di Somma, professor of internal medicine at the Sapienza University of Rome who is leading the joint U.S.-Italian research project.

He told The Daily Telegraph that the role of high-quality olive oil, wild-cultivated herbs and vegetables, fresh local fish, and regular physical activity are also being examined. Many of the centenarians worked in the fields for decades, Di Somma noted, and still walk or ride bicycles to do their shopping and daily errands.

At the heart of the project — perhaps one of the most extensive studies of the Mediterranean diet to date — is the search for specific proteins researchers believe may be genetic markers for longevity. They will also investigate why certain illnesses are practically absent in the population. Acciaroli, with around 2,000 residents, not only has an unusually high percentage of men and women over the age of 100 — but also a remarkably low rate of heart disease and Alzheimer’s.

“Not only do they live long, they also live well,” Di Somma said.

The teams — made up of approximately 50 researchers, medical experts, geneticists and local doctors — will take blood samples, distribute questionnaires and study diet and lifestyle of the town’s most elderly residents.

After Acciaroli, the researchers plan to take their study across Italy.

“The effect of rosemary on longevity is just one part of a hypothesis that we hope to prove in the next three to four years. It could be a very good model,” Di Somma said.

 

[theos]

I think the researchers would do well to look more at other factors besides their rosemary intake. Living in a remote, small village more than likely has epigenetic effects on these centenarians. Meaningful relationships and the lack of stress that comes from living in a small town cuts down on a lot of the headache that they could experience by living in a different environment. In other words, maybe their genes are different but perhaps not because they were born that way but because their good environment (small town, smoking, high fish intake with the Mediterranean diet, along with walking and biking) changed their genes.

 

[herondancer]

I think the researchers would do well to look more at other factors besides their rosemary intake. Living in a remote, small village more than likely has epigenetic effects on these centenarians. Meaningful relationships and the lack of stress that comes from living in a small town cuts down on a lot of the headache that they could experience by living in a different environment. In other words, maybe their genes are different but perhaps not because they were born that way but because their good environment (small town, smoking, high fish intake with the Mediterranean diet, along with walking and biking) changed their genes.

That was close to my first thought too. Instead of looking at the obvious factors of diet and lifestyle, they went right for the exotic science-y stuff of genetic profiles, and tried to zero in on a magic bullet, in this case, rosemary.

 

[canavare]

I think the researchers would do well to look more at other factors besides their rosemary intake. Living in a remote, small village more than likely has epigenetic effects on these centenarians. Meaningful relationships and the lack of stress that comes from living in a small town cuts down on a lot of the headache that they could experience by living in a different environment. In other words, maybe their genes are different but perhaps not because they were born that way but because their good environment (small town, smoking, high fish intake with the Mediterranean diet, along with walking and biking) changed their genes.

exactly, and may be their good environment changed their genes and this gene enhancment accumulated over the generations , I mean may be the opposite effects of the pottenger's cats experiment happened there to human, FMI see:
http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/francis-m-pottenger-md/

 

[A Jay]

I think the researchers would do well to look more at other factors besides their rosemary intake. Living in a remote, small village more than likely has epigenetic effects on these centenarians. Meaningful relationships and the lack of stress that comes from living in a small town cuts down on a lot of the headache that they could experience by living in a different environment. In other words, maybe their genes are different but perhaps not because they were born that way but because their good environment (small town, smoking, high fish intake with the Mediterranean diet, along with walking and biking) changed their genes.

That was close to my first thought too. Instead of looking at the obvious factors of diet and lifestyle, they went right for the exotic science-y stuff of genetic profiles, and tried to zero in on a magic bullet, in this case, rosemary.

Basically my first thoughts as well. It also seems to me that their focus on rosemary is an attempt to escape the cognitive dissonance of seeing this village of happy and healthy smokers live so long without the issues seen in other societies. The data doesn't fit their theories, so they're desperate to find a way to make the theory work in spite of what's in front of them. They could have just as easily latched on to the 'fresh olive oil' or something similar as the 'magic bullet', but for whatever reason they thought, "Oh, it must be the rosemary!"

 

[dugdeep]

I think the researchers would do well to look more at other factors besides their rosemary intake. Living in a remote, small village more than likely has epigenetic effects on these centenarians. Meaningful relationships and the lack of stress that comes from living in a small town cuts down on a lot of the headache that they could experience by living in a different environment. In other words, maybe their genes are different but perhaps not because they were born that way but because their good environment (small town, smoking, high fish intake with the Mediterranean diet, along with walking and biking) changed their genes.

That was close to my first thought too. Instead of looking at the obvious factors of diet and lifestyle, they went right for the exotic science-y stuff of genetic profiles, and tried to zero in on a magic bullet, in this case, rosemary.

Basically my first thoughts as well. It also seems to me that their focus on rosemary is an attempt to escape the cognitive dissonance of seeing this village of happy and healthy smokers live so long without the issues seen in other societies. The data doesn't fit their theories, so they're desperate to find a way to make the theory work in spite of what's in front of them. They could have just as easily latched on to the 'fresh olive oil' or something similar as the 'magic bullet', but for whatever reason they thought, "Oh, it must be the rosemary!"

Reminds me of the whole "French Paradox" nonsense. French people eat a lot of saturated fat yet have no heart disease?! Must be the resveratrol in the wine! What a load of bunk