Keynote Lecture
The Blue Zones: a model to live longer and better
Michel Poulain, Emeritus Professor UCLouvain (Belgium), Senior Researcher Tallinn University (Estonia)A Longevity Blue Zone (BZ) is a delimited area where the population born in this place is proved to live significantly longer compared to populations elsewhere in the same country. It is basically a demographic concept and the first step for identifying a BZ is the validation of the age of the oldest olds to assess the level of population longevity. The BZ is a area where the population shares the same lifestyle and environment so that the BZ will bring the best opportunity to search for potential longevity determinants. As such, the basic elements to identify a BZ are only related to demography and geography whereas the genetic, biomedical, nutritional, socio-economic and psychological factors are coming ex post as potential determinants to explain the exceptional longevity observed in the pre-determined BZ.
The search for common longevity determinants in the different BZ’s is just beginning. Quantitative and qualitative surveys are currently under development in a comparative way for Sardinia and Ikaria, involving biomedical and behavioural aspects as well as genetic and epigenetic background. As such the current scientific investigations on BZ’s oldest olds are very close to the viewpoint of the lifestyle medicine. More about the BZ and on-going scientific investigations can be found in the following website https://longevitybluezone.com.
back