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Pregnancy and Childbirth Pregnancy Basics
Children born to younger moms are more likely to live to the age of 100.
People who are born to mothers under the age of 25 are more than twice as likely to live till 100 as those people born to older mothers. In a study presented at the meeting of the Population Association of America, researchers looked at the family histories of almost 200 centenarians and their siblings. First, they discovered that 80 percent of the centenarians were the first born in their family, but the reasons why were not clear. To explain why first born children have a longevity edge, Dr. Leonid Gavrilov, study author from the Center of Aging at the University of Chicago, looked at how old the mothers were when they gave birth to each child. Ultimately, he discovered that it's not birth order, but your mother's age at birth that influences whether you will live to see 100. Modern medicine does give everyone a better chance to live a long life then their ancestors. But Gavrilov and his colleagues theorize that younger moms are more likely to give birth to future centenarians either because their eggs are heartier, or because younger women have been exposed to fewer infections that affect the health of their baby. However, more research is needed to determine the exact cause.
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