The Mutation That Keeps the Heart Young
A variant of the BPIFB4 gene preserves cardiac function into old age
Old hearts
The oldest man ever, Jiroemon Kimura, died aged 116 due to pneumonia and heart failure.
Actually, most centenarians eventually die due to organ failure. This 2005 study puts it bluntly:
Centenarians, though perceived to have been healthy just prior to death, succumbed to diseases in 100% of the cases examined. They did not die merely ‘of old age’.
In that study, close to 70% of centenarians succumbed to cardiovascular problems. That makes intuitive sense. Our hearts beat every second or so of our lives. That would wear down any muscle. As the heart becomes less efficient, the blood flow to our other organs suffers, and things start to fall apart.
Sadly, we can’t grow new hearts just yet (although we’re working on it). But what we can do is look at people whose heart remains strong and sturdy in old age. And when we find that these people carry specific gene variants, we might be on to something. 2015 research has identified such a ‘longevity-associated variant’ in the gene BPIFB4, which stands for — buckle up, this is a long one — bactericidal/permeability-increasing fold-containing-family-B-member-4.
