What is it about?
Longevity is rightly considered one of the greatest achievements of modern society, an achievement understood as the possibility of increasing the healthy part of life and not only its full duration. This study investigated the phenomenon of regional longevity in Cilento by analyzing the association between longevity indicators and some environmental factors, in order to understand if factors such as altitude, climate, UNESCO protected areas, and hinterland can directly or indirectly influence the measure of healthy living and lead to longevity. Demographic and environmental data were collected through the Archives of the Cilento municipalities, the National Institute of Statistics, the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, and the Italian National Commission for UNESCO. The Geographically Weighted Regression were used to determine the association between longevity indicators and environmental factors. Correlation analysis between the longevity indicators was investigated in order to have a complete picture of longevity in Cilento. It was discovered that Cilento longevity is mainly found in the central area of the territory and from there, by age groups, it widens towards the south-eastern area. This designated area is part of the hilly area of the Cilento, at an altitude between 400 and 700 m above sea level. The towns of this area are part of the UNESCO heritage and are characterized by a transitional climate between Mediterranean and temperate climate. Moreover, the correlation analysis between the six indicators of longevity has confirmed a linear relationship between the six variables and this indicates that in the years to come there will be the probabilities of a generational turn over between the old, great old, nonagenarians and current centenarians, provided that the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic subsides.
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Why is it important?
It is the first study to define the area of longevity in Cilento through six longevity indicators and four environmental factors.
Perspectives
Further studies are needed to better understand the relationship between health, diet, and living area. In addition, studies related to the association between environmental and genetic factors on local longevity in Cilento should be encouraged and investigated to understand what factors are able to modify the epigenome to establish healthy aging.
Dr Silvana Mirella Aliberti
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Extreme Longevity: Analysis of the Direct or Indirect Influence of Environmental Factors on Old, Nonagenarians, and Centenarians in Cilento, Italy, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, January 2022, MDPI AG,
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph19031589.
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