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HEALTH AND WELLNESS The world’s oldest person made it to 122—3 reasons she lived so long, from a longevity expert who knew her
CNBC ^ | Feb 21 20239:06 PM EST | Renée Onque

Posted on 02/22/2023 8:10:10 AM PST by Red Badger

Jeanne Calment, a French woman, achieved an incredible feat of living to age 122, thus earning the honor of being the world’s oldest person on record.

But before her passing, Calment met and discussed her life with Jean-Marie Robine, an expert demographer who studies the links between health and longevity.

As a disclaimer, Robine says: “We have to keep in mind that a big part of the longevity of Jeanne Calment is due to just chance because it’s just so exceptional.”

However, there are some aspects of her life that likely contributed to her ability to live so long, he says.

3 likely reasons the world’s oldest person lived to 122

1. She was wealthy

Calment benefitted from “growing up in a bourgeois family in the south of France, so she was living in a nice neighborhood,” says Robine.

This allowed her to go to school until the age of 16, which was not very common for women during that time period, he adds. She also went on to receive private classes in cuisine, art and dance until she got married at 20 years old.

Another factor that likely helped her live longer, and stress less, was that “she never worked,” says Robine.

“She always had someone at home to help her,” and didn’t have to cook for herself or even shop for her necessities.

2. She didn’t smoke cigarettes until much later in life

Until marriage, Calment was not allowed to smoke, says Robine. “We have to remember where we were, at the end of the nineteenth century in a little town in the South of France,” he says.

“Of course it was absolutely forbidden, and impossible, for a girl, and specifically in a bourgeois family, to do that.”

Yet just after getting married, Calment’s husband offered her a cigarette. And though she was extremely happy to do something that she wasn’t allowed to do before, “when she was smoking for the first time, she did not find it nice, and she quit smoking.”

Interestingly enough, Calment didn’t smoke for most of her life, but picked up the habit at around age 112 while living in a nursing home.

3. She had a great social life

With so much free time, Calment had “absolutely nothing to do except to take care of [herself], to visit France and have social activities,” says Robine.

She spent most of her time attending social events and meeting new people, especially because “people were organizing balls at home.”

With her husband, she was also able to travel often and go to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, which was under construction at the time. “She was discovering this fascinating world at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century.”

“Even if she [died] at the age of 119, it would have been exceptional, and it would have been the same with 120,” says Robine. “But she [lived] to 122 and a few more days.”


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; History; Society
KEYWORDS: longevity
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1 posted on 02/22/2023 8:10:10 AM PST by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

Dannon Yogurt?

2 posted on 02/22/2023 8:12:23 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

She was too mean to die.


3 posted on 02/22/2023 8:12:47 AM PST by Fido969 (45 is Superman! )
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To: Red Badger

First key be wealthy


4 posted on 02/22/2023 8:14:53 AM PST by Nifster ( EI see puppy dogs in the clouds )
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To: Nifster

Healthy, wealthy and wise...............


5 posted on 02/22/2023 8:15:58 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: Red Badger

Wealth is a double edged sword. On the positive you probably live in a lower crime area, get medical and dental care, have enough to eat, and have clean drinking water. I’d rather be wealthy.

But as we see with the kids of the rich, having access to all you want and the money and time to self indulge you tend to self destruct.


6 posted on 02/22/2023 8:16:35 AM PST by Persevero (You cannot comply your way out of tyranny. )
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To: Persevero

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems


7 posted on 02/22/2023 8:17:27 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

There’s also a theory that she was a fraud. A daughter assumed her identity to keep getting her pension and apartment.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/02/17/was-jeanne-calment-the-oldest-person-who-ever-lived-or-a-fraud


8 posted on 02/22/2023 8:19:48 AM PST by bigdaddy45
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To: Red Badger
Calment didn’t smoke for most of her life, but picked up the habit at around age 112 while living in a nursing home.


9 posted on 02/22/2023 8:20:46 AM PST by CodeJockey ("The duty of a true Patriot is to protect his country from its government.” –Thomas Paine)
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To: Nifster

One of my grandmothers lived to be 106 and she had some similarities with the French lady.

She was athletic and her favorite hobby was dancing.

She married young to a man who later became reasonably wealthy.

She never worked—had a live in maid/cook take care of her home.

Most folks thought she was dumb because nothing ever seemed to bother her—she always had a positive attitude and a smile on her face.

In fact she was highly intelligent—but never let the fools or jerks get her down.

I talk about her often—her one piece of advice to me was “never believe anything you see on TV”.

She thought mass media were evil liars and she just ignored them.


10 posted on 02/22/2023 8:21:35 AM PST by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
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To: CodeJockey

Just think, she might have lived to be 125 had she never started smoking!.....................


11 posted on 02/22/2023 8:22:49 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: CodeJockey
Calment didn’t smoke for most of her life, but picked up the habit at around age 112 while living in a nursing home.

She picked up the slack for Keith Richards, after he quit smoking.

12 posted on 02/22/2023 8:24:00 AM PST by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: Red Badger

I don’t see any mention in the luck of the draw in genes.

How long did her grandparents live I wonder.


13 posted on 02/22/2023 8:31:50 AM PST by seowulf (Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos...Will Durant)
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To: CodeJockey

Yup, escaping the horrors of nursing homes....


14 posted on 02/22/2023 8:33:28 AM PST by the OlLine Rebel (Common sense is an uncommon virtue./Federal-run medical care is as good as state-run DMV.)
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To: Red Badger

The strange thing is that I read she started smoking at age 21 and did not quite until five years before her death. That article was posted a week or so ago. So I seriously question the statements made in this article. Sounds like more MSM propaganda. She is said to have smoked only 2 to 3 per day after meals.


15 posted on 02/22/2023 8:37:09 AM PST by Revel
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To: the OlLine Rebel

One of my grandmother’s secrets was she never got sick enough or injured enough to go to the hospital.

If you can manage to stay away from the “experts” your life expectancy gets a big positive jump.

She did smoke cigarettes and drink liquor in moderation—a couple of cigarettes a day and a drink after dinner.


16 posted on 02/22/2023 8:37:50 AM PST by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
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To: Red Badger

“She was discovering this fascinating world at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth century.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Talk about being born at the right time. Imagine being a wealthy young person during the fin de siecle as they call it, and being able to live it up and soak it in. If I had a time machine, that would be one of my first stops.


17 posted on 02/22/2023 8:38:38 AM PST by Yardstick
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To: Revel

My father-in-law died two years ago at age 85+, smoked practically his whole life...................


18 posted on 02/22/2023 8:39:00 AM PST by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
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To: cgbg

Sounds like a fabulous woman


19 posted on 02/22/2023 8:39:35 AM PST by Nifster ( EI see puppy dogs in the clouds )
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To: Revel

The anti-smoking “experts” refuse to differentiate between having a cigarette or two a day vs a pack or two a day.

In the real world that makes a big difference—and most people are entirely capable of controlling their “addiction” to nicotine.


20 posted on 02/22/2023 8:40:03 AM PST by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
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