Just reading the 2004 paper that introduced the concept of "blue zones" where people live to be extremely old, and:

"An additional and interesting hypothesis is that the high rate of inbreeding determined by frequent marriages between consanguineous individuals and low immigration rates have…facilitated the emergence of genetic characteristics that…might actually protect individuals from diseases that are major causes of mortality…” https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00175541/file/2004%20POULAIN%20BZ%20EXP%20GERONT.pdf

Saul Justin Newman won a 2024 Ig Nobel Prize for his research demonstrating that “blue zones" also tend to be places where birth records were destroyed in WWII (Sardinia and Okinawa are prime examples).

The key to a really long life is poor record-keeping and a willingness to deceive others, if not yourself. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/704080v1.full.pdf

@waldoj
Yeah, I heard about that, but it reminded me that the oldest American died yesterday at 115.

I don't know how accurate her birth records are.

@waldoj Grandmother born in 1902 during a three day annual festival picked the 23rd as her birthday because no one really knew. She was white so no one challenged her right to vote, though she was a married mother by the time she was allowed to.
@waldoj So wait: you mean Methuselah WASN’T 969 years old???
@sandifop @waldoj Yep, turns out Methuselah was just another case of pension fraud!
@sandifop @waldoj (something something pension fraud Georg)