Apparently so, according to a ScienceDaily article from March 8. The study looked at 450 women between 95 and 110 (all of Ashkenazi Jewish descent as they are a more homogeneous group, ethnically speaking - makes "longevity genes" easier to spot.) and found that
The present study focused on genes involved in the action of insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), a hormone that in humans is regulated by human growth hormone. Affecting virtually every cell type in the body, IGF-I is crucially important for children's growth and continues contributing to tissue synthesis into adulthood. The IGF-I cell-signaling pathway is triggered when IGF-I molecules circulating in blood plasma latch onto receptors on the surface of cells, causing a signal to be sent to the cell's nucleus that may, for example, tell that cell to divide.
They studied IGF-I because it impairs growth, but prolongs life in other animals. In order to do the study, they not only studied the centunarians and near-centunarians, but also their children. They also ran tests on children of Ashkenazi Jews who did not have a family history of longevity. They found that the daughters of the centunarians had IGF-I facturs 35% higher than the other group. They were also an inch shorter.
So readers, what do you think of this study? Do you think shorter people are more likely to live longer? After all, Japanese are historically shorter than other Asian ethnicities, and apparently, there are more centunarians in Japan than any other country. Of course, you have to factor in diet and lifestyle too.
