The Island Where People Forget To Die

Stamatis Moraiti,s at least 97 years old

Ah, wouldn't we all like to life a nice, long, healthy life? The inhabitants of the Greek Island, Ikaria, abouth 30 miles off the coast of Turkey appear to have discovered the elixir of life. Their home's reputation as a healthy place dates back at least 2500 years, when visitors came to bathe in the hot springs near Therma.  The 17th century bishop of Ikaria, Joseph Georgirenes, once wrote, “The most commendable thing on this island is their air and water, both so healthful that people are very long-lived, it being an ordinary thing to see persons in it of 100 years of age.”

Well, Dan Buettner, with support from the National Geographic Society, has been studying places where the residents live unusually long lives. His work is due to appear in next month's issue of the magazine, but the New York Times has done a piece on his work.

A quote from the Times article........

"After gathering all the data, he and his colleagues at the University of Athens concluded that people on Ikaria were, in fact, reaching the age of 90 at two and a half times the rate Americans do. (Ikarian men in particular are nearly four times as likely as their American counterparts to reach 90, often in better health.) But more than that, they were also living about 8 to 10 years longer before succumbing to cancers and cardiovascular disease, and they suffered less depression and about a quarter the rate of dementia. Almost half of Americans 85 and older show signs of Alzheimer’s. (The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that dementia cost Americans some $200 billion in 2012.) On Ikaria, however, people have been managing to stay sharp to the end."

What a difference with America, where most lose their wits before the age of 30.