In the United States, supercentenarian status is predicted by the absence of vital registration. The state-specific introduction of birth certificates is associated with a 69-82% fall in the number of supercentenarian records. In Italy, which has more uniform vital registration, remarkable longevity is instead predicted by low per capita incomes and a short life expectancy. Finally, the designated ‘blue zones’ of Sardinia, Okinawa, and Ikaria corresponded to regions with low incomes, low literacy, high crime rate and short life expectancy relative to their national average. As such, relative poverty and short lifespan constitute unexpected predictors of centenarian and supercentenarian status, and support a primary role of fraud and error in generating remarkable human age records.
"This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review"
also the first comment there (http://disq.us/p/25lpyed)
which I take the liberty to reproduce here:
Greetings,
With all due respect, the allegations in the article, namely, that supercentenarians are concentrated into regions with no birth certificates and short lifespans is false. By the study of the Gerontology Research Group, International Database on Longevity and Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research among others, we know that supercentenarians are extremely rare, yet an existent and validated population. The Gerontology Research Group takes the global view on the subject, using stable and defined validation criteria outlined by Dr. Poulain of Belgium in the Supercentenarians monograph (2010). I invite all of you who would like to learn more about the GRG data and its characteristics.
Measurement error. How many people forget this detail and build whole lives around faulty studies like the Blue Zones.
The Blue Zones is also selective in other ways. Utah has similar life expectancy to Loma Linda seventh day adventist. This was left out in the Blue Zones "study" since it did not fit the data.
In the United States, supercentenarian status is predicted by the absence of vital registration. The state-specific introduction of birth certificates is associated with a 69-82% fall in the number of supercentenarian records. In Italy, which has more uniform vital registration, remarkable longevity is instead predicted by low per capita incomes and a short life expectancy. Finally, the designated ‘blue zones’ of Sardinia, Okinawa, and Ikaria corresponded to regions with low incomes, low literacy, high crime rate and short life expectancy relative to their national average. As such, relative poverty and short lifespan constitute unexpected predictors of centenarian and supercentenarian status, and support a primary role of fraud and error in generating remarkable human age records.