Scientists have observed for year “Blue Areas” With a mixture of fascination, suspicion And a pressing question: are there places that people usually enjoy longer and healthier lives? Is it easier to meet centenary people in certain regions From the planet, like Okinawa (Japan), Ikara (Greece) or Sardinia? And if so, why? A group of Finnish researchers believe they have found A new candidate To “Blue Zone” to the west of your country, a finding that can help us better understand these mysterious areas.
For now, they have already managed to generate expectation.
What happened? Some time ago a group of researchers from the Åbo Akademia University based in Turku (Finland), a peculiar objective was proposed: finding out if a part of its country fits the characteristics of what is usually known as ‘blue areas’geographical areas that stand out for the high longevity and healthy life habits of its inhabitants, two realities that experts believe they are directly related.
To be more precise Nordic scientists focused on a handful of territories of the old Western Finland: The Swedish majority region of Ostrobotnia, South Ostrobotnia and the Åland islands. As explained in The article In which they have reflected their conclusions, their idea was to analyze the longevity indicators and then find out if the best results corresponded to the cities in which people enjoy a healthier lifestyle.
But … What is “blue zone”? Regions in which people (apparently) enjoy longer and more healthy lives than normal. It is not a new concept. Its origins can be traced At least until 2004when the magazine Experimental Gerontology public A broad study on the centenary population of Sardinia, Italy. In it the authors marked with that color (blue) the regions of the map in which the longevity data were higher.
In addition to identifying them geographically, researchers speculated that these indicators could be explained by factors such as nutrition, lifestyle or the proliferation of genetic characteristics that favored the locals.
The fact is that the ‘blue areas’ liked and shortly after, in 2005, a journalist from National Geographic He used it in Another article in which he talked about three regions of the planet where on average the population enjoyed longer and healthy lives: Okinawa, in Japan, Loma Linda, in California, and Sardinia. The text was affected in the same idea: the phenomenon connects with certain healthy habits in these territories, such as nutritional diets, physical activity, stress control and moderate alcohol consumption, among others.
And what did they find out in Finland? Åbo researchers identified a series of curious phenomena who, in summary, have taken them to conclude That the Swedish region of Ostrobotnia “could be a blue zone”, with a population characterized by its high life expectancy, health and positive life habits. However, that’s just one of your conclusions. And maybe not the most interesting. To understand it it is necessary to know Your study and the figures on which it supports.
What figures? The most interesting are longevity. According to The data collected in Journal of Aging Research In the åland islands life expectancy among babies who came to the world between 2020 and 2022 was 83.5 years, in ostrobotnia of 83.1 and in southern ostrobotnia of 81.8. Any of these data exceeds both the mean of Finland (81.6) and EU’swhich is around 81.5.
Worldwide, life expectancy at birth in 2022 was 72.6 years and, According to statistathat global average will not approach that of Ostrobotnia until the end of the century. Of course, it is a global average. In Spain the data is already Very simulate.
And what does that tell us? The Åbo team did not limit himself to studying longevity records. After all, the blue areas have not been analyzed only according to demographic data. Experts also take into account factors such as “lifestyle and health”, which includes social relationships, diet, physical activity or even vital purposes. By taking into account these parameters, experts reached a conclusion: the relationship between them (longevity and the characteristics of blue areas) are not as evident as one would expect.
What does it mean? That the greatest longevity data are not necessarily in the regions that best fit the ideal characteristics of a “blue zone”. It sounds confusing, but it is better understood with an example. The longest study of the study was Åland, an area that effectively presents good health data, but is “diverted from several principles” of what could be considered the ideal lifestyle. In part of Ostrobotnia something different happens: the healthy lifestyle is well implanted and yet its life expectancy is less than in other areas.
What is the conclusion? There are several. To begin the researchers concluded that, if the age, health and implementation of the lifestyle of the blue areas, the Swedish Obstrobotnia are taken into account It could be considered Perfectly one of those redoubts that stand out for their longevity. Just like Other regions of the planet, such as Okinawa, Ikara or Oglybasra.
However, research throws another more interesting reading, especially in the face of future studies on blue areas: when analyzing them it is important to take into account the context. “The possible coherence between longevity, health and lifestyle I could vary in different cultural, political, social and economic contexts,” indicates the articlewhich acknowledges that their data shows that “the Nordic regions with greater longevity are not necessarily adhere to the lifestyle of blue areas.” In other words, they insist: “The important lifestyle principles for longevity can vary in different regions.”
Why is it interesting? Because beyond the implications it may have for Western Finland, its authorities, doctors and demographers, research throws new data and keys to the study of blue areas, a concept that in recent years has aroused two feelings: fascination … and skepticism. Since National Geographic public Your article The concept has generated debate and suspicion of those who warn that their scientific base results Little solid.
In 2019 Dr. Saul J. Newman launched An article in which he assured that the apparent concentrations of centenary citizens are not always real. Specifically, the US case cited, where the arrival of birth certificates made the cases of people “Supercentenarias“(Those of more than 110 years) collapse a surprising 82%. The reason? Simple. The records became more precise, which reduced the risk of errors or even fraud.
It is an important nuance since it could be one of the keys, Newman warnswhich explains the alleged concentrations of centenary people in the blue areas.
Images | Carlos “Gury” Santos (UNSPLASH), Tapio Haaja (Unspash) and Åbo Akademi
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