By Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
It is estimated that only a small fraction of the total population—considerably less than 1%—will live to 100 with intact cognitive function. However, for those who do reach 100, the proportion who remain cognitively healthy is significantly higher, though estimates vary widely.
Neuville et al, published the 90+ Study, found that roughly 47% of centenarians in its sample had a dementia diagnosis, with others having no or mild cognitive impairment. The 90+ Study reported the risk of dementia was strongly associated with neuropathological changes found in the brain at autopsy. Conversely, those free of pathological changes died with cognitive function intact.
Some centenarians have been found to have cognitive resilience or resistance to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's, with some showing little to no cognitive symptoms despite brain pathology. There is almost nothing published on what these factors could be or how they could be amplified.
The 100-Plus Study is a cohort of centenarians who were assessed serially over time. The major findings were that good hearing, higher levels of education, premorbid IQ, frequency of current cognitive activity were associated with higher scores on all domains. Lifetime cognitive activity and attention/processing speed were associated with better outcomes. None of the other investigated associations between risk factors and performance on cognitive domains were significant after correction for multiple comparisons.
The point of this analysis is that there is much to learn about who is long-lived and how some can achieve very long healthspans. In my view we should invest more in cohorts such as 100-Plus to learn about positive, healthy determinants as opposed to the more conventional screen, detect, and treat disease model applied during adulthood.
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Peter A. McCullough, MD, MPH
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It sounds to me like the brain is a "muscle." The more you "exercise" it, the longer and stronger your brain will last. Just another benefit for those of us who are critical thinkers.
I would be interested to know if the centenarians who did not develop neuropathological changes or dementia avoided annual flu shots and the other toxic vaccines that are emphatically recommended to anyone over 50 since the early 80's. Add the toxic COVID jab to the mix and it is not surprising to see that there is a significant increase in dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkisons occurring in the over 60 population.