Japan now has more than 86,000 centenarians; 88% of them are women

The number of centenarians in Japan has reached a record high of over 86,000, according to the country's health and welfare Ministry. The government's survey revealed that there are 86,510 people in the country who are above 100 years of age or more, which is 6,060 more than a year earlier. According to NHK World, the number of centenarians in Japan has increased for the 51st year in a row.

According to the report, women account for 88% of all centenarians, with Kane Tanaka, 118, being the oldest lady who lives in Fukuoka Prefecture. Guinness World Records has recognised her as the world's oldest living person. Tanaka was born in the same year as the Wright brothers flew the world's first powered aeroplane, in 1903. The oldest Japanese man is Mikizo Ueda, a 111-year-old native of Nara Prefecture.

Shimane Prefecture has the highest centenarian population density

According to NHK World, Japan's Shimane Prefecture has the highest centenarian population density, with 134.75 per 100,000 people. Shimane is followed by Kochi Prefecture, which has a ratio of 126.29 per 100,000 people, and Kagoshima Prefecture, which has a ratio of 118.74 per 100,000 people. Meanwhile, researchers from Stanford University and the Buck Institute have developed an inflammatory clock of ageing (iAge), which assesses inflammatory load and predicts multi-morbidity, frailty, immunological health, cardiovascular ageing, and is also linked to exceptional lifespan in centenarians.

Researchers discovered a modifiable chemokine associated with cardiac ageing using deep learning, a type of AI, in studies of the blood immunome of 1001 people. This chemokine can be utilised for the early diagnosis of age-related pathology and gives a target for therapies. The findings were reported in the journal Nature Aging.

Japan has the highest percentage of centenarians

In 1961, the Japanese government initiated a study of centenarians, and only 153 people over the age of 100 were detected. According to the United Nations, the number of centenarians will increase to almost 573,000 this year. With approx 97,000 centenarians, the United States has the highest absolute number of centenarians in the world. According to World Atlas, Japan ranks second with 86,000 people aged 100 or older. With 6 centenarians per 10,000 people or 0.06 per cent of the population, Japan has the highest percentage of centenarians.

(Inputs from ANI)

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