A SPANISH “Super Grandmother” is the oldest woman in the world, surviving Covid, a civil war, a deadly earthquake, and a major fire.
Incredibly, the 116-year-old has no health complications other than hearing and mobility issues – and scientists want to know how.
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Maria Branyas, unlike most people her age, has no cardiovascular problems and can recall stories from the age of four with ease.
Researchers have now taken DNA samples from the American-born supercentenarian in a bid to discover groundbreaking secrets to disease and age – that could uncover the key to massively lengthening human life.
She previously shared cutting out “toxic people”, avoiding “excess”, and eating natural yoghurt every day were crucial ingredients in her living a long life.
Spanish researcher Manel Esteller, who visited Maria at her care home in Olot, Gerona earlier this year, told Spanish newspaper ABC: “She’s incredible.”
“She has a completely lucid head.
“She remembers with impressive clarity episodes of her when she was only four years old, and she does not present any cardiovascular disease, common in elderly people.
“The only thing she has are mobility and hearing problems.”
Dr Esteller, a world leader in genetics, is interested in the roles both nature and nurture have played in Maria’s longevity.
He explained: “It is clear that there is a genetic component because there are several members of her family who are over 90 years old.”
Maria was born in San Francisco on March 4, 1907 to an expatriate Spanish family, returning to Catalonia in 1915 as her journalist father’s health – and financial situation – declined.
The 116-year-old previously said: “I have always eaten little, but everything, and I have never followed any regime.
“I have not suffered from any illness or been through an operating room.”
She credited her long life to having “order, tranquillity, good connection with family and friends, contact with nature, emotional stability, lots of positivity and away from toxic people” – as well as genes and “luck”.
The study will analyse six billion segments of Maria’s DNA, focusing on 200 genes that are directly related to ageing, with the results compared to her 79-year-old middle daughter.
Known as the “Super Grandmother”, Maria has another older daughter who is 90 and a son who died in an accident at 77.
Dr Esteller said he hoped the study would allow for the development of drugs capable of addressing neurodegenerative or cardiovascular diseases associated with age and cancer.
He added: “What is clear is that she is a person with an extraordinary capacity for resilience… She is a true survivor.”
Researchers have identified nine common practices residents of the Blue Zones – Greece, Italy, Costa Rica, California, and Japan – follow which may explain why they live longer lives than people elsewhere.
Dubbed the “Power Nine”, they fall into categories ranging from diet and exercise to social life and include natural movement, having purpose, and limiting stressors.
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A new study insists good sex is the key to happiness as a person ages.
Researchers found those who felt fulfilled in the bedroom had higher levels of life satisfaction in the middle and later stages of their lives.
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