Azernews.Az

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan has always been famous for its centenarians and is considered to be one of the regions with the highest longevity in the world.

Centenarians are people who are a hundred or more years old [different studies count the beginning of longevity from different marks].

Centenarians

The length of human life depends on many reasons. These include genetic predisposition, the environment, as well as a person's attitude and desire to live.

The experts state that there are certain generations of centenarians. They note that if the ecological environment is good, this gene is not lost and is inherited. And vice versa, if someone, whose ancestors were centenarians, lives in a bad ecological environment, this factor negatively affects longevity.

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the limit of human life expectancy is 122 years. That is how long Jeanne Louise Calma, a resident of France, born February 21, 1875, in Arles, lived. Two years less lived Shigechio Izumi, a resident of Japan, born in 1865, who died of pneumonia in 1986.

Azerbaijan's oldest person

Currently, the oldest person (centenarian) in Azerbaijan is southern Lankaran region resident Tamam Azizova

According to the documents, she was born in 1890 and is 130 years old now, thus witnessing three centuries, surviving two world wars, both Karabakh wars, and many other significant events in history.

She is the mother of ten adopted and four native children. Azizova has 39 grandchildren, 62 great-grandchildren, and 20 great-great-grandchildren.

For most of her life, she worked in a weaving factory, and in her spare time, she knitted socks for sale. Samples of her handicrafts are kept in the Museum of History and Regional Ethnography of the regional center.

Other Azerbaijani centenarians

Back in Soviet times, the names of centenarians from Lerik, Shirali Muslimov and Mahmud Eyvazov were known throughout the world.

Lerik region, located in the southern part of the country, is known as the place of the longest-living people in the South Caucasus.

The most famous centenarian was Shirali Muslimov. According to some sources, he was born in 1805 and died in 1973, when he was 168 years old. However, there is still controversy over his age at the time of his death.

The Lerik Longevity Museum contains information about other centenarians who lived in the region, including Mahmud Eyvazov, who lived 150 years.

Unfortunately, because their ages have not been verified, they are not included in the Guinness Book of Records.

Secrets of longevity

According to Tamam, the secret of longevity is a healthy diet. She always preferred natural products and believed that meat is bad for health, as “a lot of diseases are passed on to a person through it and it makes a person grow old”. She rarely eats the meat of chickens raised in her own yard.

At the same time, she never ate store-bought fruits. Almost everything she eats was grown in her own yard, and she buys food only what farmers grew there. In addition, she doesn’t eat in the evening, and generally tries to eat very little, but at the same time.

Her last meal is usually at three o'clock in the afternoon, which can be two eggs or dates.

Scientists say that in the future people will live longer. Due to the development of medicine, the average life expectancy in the whole world has increased. All doctors underline that physical activity and a healthy lifestyle are beneficial at any age.

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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad

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