Scientists study centenarians for clues to long life
By Alan Marler, APJuanita Ollman, 100, shares a dance with son-in-law Burley Hendricks inside her Hendersonville, N.C., home.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Juanita Ollman survived the flu epidemic of 1919, heavy smoking during World War II, a car accident on a North Carolina mountainside when she was 93, and the pneumonia that hospitalized her when she was 99. She has no magic recipe for her longevity: She exercised regularly, including years of ballroom dancing. But she eats anything she wants, including breakfasts of bacon and eggs. Church and family kept her centered, but a son's service in the war drove her to cigarettes.
People who have lived past 100 are being studied for their secrets. Researchers are sifting through such histories, seeking the answer to what leads to a long life: good genes, good habits or just good luck.