ESKATON DEFINES “LONGEVOUS.”

ESKATON DEFINES “LONGEVOUS.” Eskaton, the “Official Sponsor of Longevity,” begins an especially longevous new year with 39 centenarians and another six 99-year-olds. Collectively, this is a significant accomplishment -- in fact, the ratio of age 100+ individuals in Eskaton’s population is 50 times greater than in the general population -- but more importantly each centenarian represents an extraordinary individual accomplishment.

Last year we boasted Eskaton was a “Blue Zone.” Though done so with tongue-in-cheek, the claim drew some constructive criticism.

Jay Olshansky, author of The Quest for Immortality and professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was right to clarify. Eskaton illustrates the “power of migration,” he noted in response to the earlier “Blue Zone” boast/post. “The concept of Blue Zones applies only to largely closed populations where the prevalence of exceptionally old people is influenced by something other than people moving from place to place,” he explained.

Olshansky added that referring to Eskaton as a Blue Zone “is equivalent to suggesting that we should all move into homes of senior care because the average age of residents is higher than the rest of the population.”

Granted Eskaton is not technically a “Blue Zone,” though its population certainly defines longevous or “long lived.” So maybe we can claim to be a “Migratory Blue Zone,” populated by individuals who made the move to live longer … at home with Eskaton.