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No time like the present to live longer, study shows (December 28, 1998 11:47 p.m. EST <http://www.nandotimes.com>) - The odds of living 100 years never have been better. "Centenarians are the fastest-growing segment of our population," said Dr. Thomas Perls in Harvard Medical School's New England Centenarian Study. "The age composition of the population is changing dramatically. More and more people are now able to achieve their individual life expectancy potentials, unlike the turn of the century when many people died prematurely." No one is certain how many centenarians were alive in 1900, when the life expectancy was only about 45 years. The U.S. Census then categorized elderly people into an age group of 55 or older. But at best, there could have been only a few thousand centenarians. The Census Bureau estimates there were 64,000 centenarians in 1998 and project that there could be more than 800,000 by 2050. "Yes, it's possible," said Census statistician Connie Krach. "That estimate is based upon certain assumptions on mortality, fertility and migration." What are the odds that a child born in 1999 will live to see 2100? The National Bureau of Vital Statistics reports that actuarial and life insurance tables published in 1920 estimated that the odds were only 31 out of every 100,000 that someone born in 1900 would live a century. The latest estimate, made in 1990, is that there will be 1,424 centenarians for every 100,000. If the projections prove accurate, it seems likely that many Americans will surpass the official longevity record set by Madame Jeanne Calmet, who died in France in 1997 at the age of 122. (Although many have claimed to live longer, Calmet's claim was firmly confirmed by historical and photographic records.) These improved longevity rates will produce a historic change in the structure of society. Until recently, the age structure of all cultures has been pyramidal - with far more young people than old people. "Now the picture is very different. We are experiencing a 'rectangularization' of the population," Perls said. That means age groups in America will soon look like a rectangle rather than a pyramid. By THOMAS HARGROVE Copyright 1998 Nando Media Copyright 1998 Scripps Howard News Service janet paterson - 51 now /41 dx /37 onset - almonte/ontario/canada [log in to unmask]