Centenarians are on the rise in the US, reports the Associated Press.
The US already has the largest population of individuals 100 or older at around 72,000, and it has roughly doubled in the past 20 years. That figure is again expected to double by 2020, and perhaps increase up to sevenfold, according to the Census Bureau.
"They have been the fastest-growing segment of our population in terms of age," said Thomas Perls, director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University.
This growth is largely attributable to better medical care and the dramatic decrease in childhood-mortality rates since the early 1900s.
Lynn Peters Adler, a former lawyer who founded and runs the National Centenarian Awareness Project, has compiled some similarities between the individuals she has worked with during her 25 years of centenarian specialty.
- A positive but realistic attitude
- A love of life and sense of humor
- Spirituality
- Courage
- An ability to accept the losses that come with age and refusal to be stopped by them
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