Bay Area “superager” takes part in study that may hold keys to living a long life

By Anne Makovec

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    ALBANY, California (KPIX) — With so much focus on old age, scientists are hoping to crack the code on longevity but they need some help.

While life expectancy in the U.S. is just over 77 years, many live long beyond that. A so-called “SuperAger” from Albany in her 90s is hoping to shed light on the keys to living a long life.

At age 97, Charlotte Goode is still walking, taking care of her own apartment and holds a lively conversation.

“I have really had a great life. I have no regrets. I have done many things,” Goode said.

She’s spent decades as a court-appointed advocate for children in the justice system. She’s also raised a family with three boys. Her generation, though, is disappearing.

“I am the last of my peers and I find that profoundly lonely,” said Goode.

She’s made it through the Great Depression and two bouts of cancer. The toughest blow, though, was losing the love of her life: her husband of almost eight decades, Hy. He passed away in 2019.

“It does not get easier at any time. it may even get even harder because there are so many times I’d like to say, ‘Hey Hy, know what happened?’ and he’s not here for me to say that to.”

Goode tries to fill the void by welcoming new people who move into the assisted living facilities and volunteering in its library. Her favorite genre is biographies.

“I am fascinated by people,” she said, “I love people.”

Goode is doing her part to help people by joining a study that aims to uncover what leads to longevity. She’s contributing her DNA and answering hundreds of questions about her life.

She’s kept a relatively healthy lifestyle, but Dr. Sofiya Milman, the Director of Human Longevity Studies at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, says that might not matter much.

“For people who reach these extreme old ages, DNA plays a bigger role than their lifestyle does. We want to understand what variations of genes are beneficial so that ultimately we create new therapies and medications that can mimic the function of these beneficial genes so that those of us who did not inherit these protective, beneficial genes can still benefit from this research,” said Dr. Milman

The pathbreaking SuperAgers Family Study is led by the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in collaboration with Boston University School of Medicine, and part of the nonprofit American Federation for Aging Research’s SuperAgers Initiative.

It will recruit 10,000 participants, which is the largest cohort of SuperAgers and their family members ever gathered. In the past few months since recruitment began, nearly 1,000 people have already registered.

Research studying SuperAgers has already identified several genetic drivers responsible for slower aging.

For example, changes in genes that control lipid metabolism could impact cardiovascular disease and other diseases. This research has already led to development of a drug that is being studied in a Phase 2 clinical trial.

Still, the relatively small number of SuperAgers studied to date limits scientists’ ability to look more deeply.

Ultimately, the multi-year SuperAgers Family Study will help develop and fast-track new therapies that target the aging process itself and serve as a “discovery database” useful in clinical trials on a wide variety of age-related diseases and conditions.

For Goode, things are starting to fade.

“If sometimes I can’t walk so well, I say, ‘OK Charlotte, just stand up tall, pick up your feet and just move them’. People say to me, ‘Do you want to live to be 100?’ and I say no, not particularly.”

Today she feels profoundly blessed.

“I really have felt loved by so many people from the time I have been an infant. I think that is the most wonderful, interesting thing about my life,” said Goode.

The study is open to people 95 years and older. More information about the study can be found by visiting superagersstudy.org.

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