One Italian woman has seen three centuries. Born in 1899, living through an entire century, and 15 years into the next, Emma Morano is 115-years-young. She is the oldest living person in Europe, and the 5th oldest person in the world, outliving two of her sisters who died at 99 and 102 years old.
She lives alone in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment in Verbania, Italy. A caregiver comes by daily to help prepare her meals, and a neighbor is on call in case of emergencies. She hasn’t required much health care in the past, and when she does she demands it be done in her home. She’s had the same doctor since she was 90, and he makes house calls.
What does she attribute her longevity to? Raw eggs and being single. She swears by it.
As a teenager her doctor suggested eating raw eggs to avoid anemia, and since then she has eaten three raw eggs a day. That’s over 100,000 in her lifetime! As far as being single, Morano was married once upon a time, but separated from her husband in 1938 after the death of an infant son. She says she has had many suitors since, but was never interested in a serious relationship again. “I didn’t want to be dominated by anyone,” she told the NY Times.
The likelihood of Moran’s lifestyle guaranteeing a long life if adopted by others is slim, so don’t stock up on eggs just yet.
“You talk to 100 centenarians, you get 100 different stories,” said Valter D. Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California, whose studies suggest that diet is an important factor in living longer.
And then there’s the genetic factor. “We do know that the ability to make it to 110 is heritable, so you have a large increase in chance if you have several people in your family to live to a late age,” Dr. Longo said.
“She’s aware of the privilege of living,” said Dr. Bava, Morano’s doctor of 25 years. He says her health is good, and he checks in on her once a month.
“If all my patients were like this,” he said, “I could have spent my days reading newspapers.”
