#Centenarians

A new wave of Swedish research suggests that centenarians don’t just live longer; they tend to avoid major diseases for most of their lives and only develop illnesses late in age, or not at all. The findings come from two large-scale studies tracking hundreds of thousands of people over decades. For Thailand, this research offers a compelling lens on how an aging population could stay healthier, longer, with less medical burden.

New Swedish research finds people who reach 100 do not simply live longer with more illnesses; they accumulate fewer diagnoses and develop serious diseases much later than their peers, suggesting a distinct pattern of ageing that could reshape how Thailand plans for an ageing society. The two linked cohort studies led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet compared birth cohorts followed for decades and showed centenarians had lower lifetime risks of stroke, heart attack and major cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric disorders, and that disease accumulation in centenarians slowed from their late 80s rather than accelerating into a sharp final decline as seen in shorter-lived groups (The Conversation summary by the lead author; Karolinska news release).

Swedish researchers have uncovered a startling truth that challenges everything we thought we knew about aging and disease: people who live to 100 don’t simply endure more years of illness—they actually avoid major diseases altogether, developing serious health conditions decades later than those who die younger, if at all. This groundbreaking discovery, emerging from comprehensive analysis of nearly 500,000 participants across multiple decades, reveals a completely different aging pattern that could revolutionize how Thailand prepares for its rapidly expanding elderly population while offering hope that millions of Thai families could experience not just longer lives, but healthier, more independent aging throughout extended lifespans.