For decades, researchers have been trying to decipher the secrets contained in the so-called “blue zones”, which are nothing more than areas of the planet where living for many years (even more than 100) seems to be the norm and not the exception. We have one of these strange cases on the island of Sardinia (Italy) where there is a mountainous area that was already characterized in the early 2000s due to an unusual proportion of centenarian men.
New case. Now, a new study points to a small Sardinian municipality, Bolotana, as a new and surprising “candidate blue zone,” this time run almost exclusively by women.
The study was published this year and analyzed the survival into old age of this Italian city, finding that the women of Bolotana reached record numbers after the age of 70 with a 13.83% chance of reaching 100 years.
To put in perspective, The University of Illinois at Chicago statement highlights that this probability is 3.5% in Italy and 3.6% in the United States. But the most significant factor is gender, since while the original blue zone of a mountainous area is distinguished for having many older men, Bolotana has a significantly female demographic advantage.
Specifically, 14 of the 19 residents who reached their centenarians between 2021 and 2025 were women. And the question is: why?
Many reasons. As with other blue regions such as Japan, the reasons for living there appear to be a very diverse set of factors. In this we can find the lifestyle followed, which can be much more relaxed than in the big cities, the type of food, the physical activity that is done and also the genetics of the people of this area.
This set of elements, and many others, makes it difficult to single out the ‘100-year survival treatment’. But it gives us an idea that longevity may lie not in a pill made by a pharmacist, but in a very specific philosophy of life.
He has a problem. Beyond this data, the study on which it is based is not entirely perfect, as there are conflicts of interest among the authors as they work on private projects aimed at understanding the blue zone. Added to this is an important conflict regarding funding, since the government study stated that it did not receive financial support, the UIC press release stated that the project had the support of National Geographic.
All this along with the fact that they haven’t isolated any reason that could be behind it, makes Bolotana an interesting place, but it still can’t be classified as a location with longevity. For this, there is still a long way to go to reach clear conclusions in the field of research.
Picture | Daniel Donati
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