(Boston Herald) -- Children of parents who live to be 100 are much less likely to develop heart disease and other health problems than those whose folks die at an average age, a Boston Medical Center study has found.

"Exceptional longevity runs in families, but at this point it's difficult to predict how much of this is genetic and how much is related to environment and lifestyle," said Dr. Dellara F. Terry of the New England Centenarian Study that is following 1,000 people who have lived to the century mark.

"This data shows there is some familiality to longevity and that there is a genetic component," she said. "Our goal is to figure out how much of it is genetic and how much is environmental."

In a study presented last week at the American Heart Association's annual scientific sessions in Chicago, Terry found adult children who had at least one parent that lived to 100 were 56 percent less likely to develop heart disease, 66 percent less likely to have high blood pressure and 59 percent less likely to have diabetes than the adult children whose parents died at an average life expectancy.

More data from the study will be presented tomorrow at the annual scientific meeting of the Gerontological Society of America at the Westin Hotel in Boston. The meeting began on Friday and concludes tomorrow.

Natalie Aharonian, 73, of Newton, took part in the study along with her 100-year-old mother, Diana. "I'm in generally good health," Natalie said. "My heart is fine so far."

But she said she doesn't expect to live as long as her mother has.

"I don't think I'll make it to 100, but you never know," she said.

Diana, who lives in her own apartment in Wellesley, "is very with it," her daughter said. "She's very sharp. She has a lot of hobbies that keep her busy."

As a child, she said, Diana was considered sickly. "They didn't think she was going to make it," Natalie said. "Now, she's outlived all her siblings."

Natalie thinks her mother's longevity may be a combination of genetics and healthy living.

"Her only exercise was housecleaning, but her diet was healthy and she never smoked or drank. That makes a difference."

In all, the researchers compared 176 children who had one parent live to 100 and 166 who had both parents die at an average age.

Children of centenarians also weighed less than the control group, the study showed. Female children of the centenarians weighed, on average, 146 pounds, while the female children of the control group weighed 158, on average. The male children of the centenarians weighed 184, on average, while the male children in the control group had an average weight of 202.

Yet there were no differences in the risk of developing cancer, stroke, dementia, osteoporosis, glaucoma, depression, Parkinson's disease or thyroid disease between the two groups of children.

"Our research suggests that children of centenarians have some cardiovascular health advantages over the rest of us," Terry said.

But the good news for the rest of us, she said, is there are things that can be done to reduce the risks of heart disease and other cardiovascular problems.

"There is a lot we can do, to age more successfully," she said. "We can lose weight, check our cholesterol, watch our blood pressure, not smoke and exercise regularly."

In data to be presented tomorrow in Boston, Terry said the findings showed that when they do get heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes, children of 100-year-old parents develop the problems later in life than children of parents who lived to an average age.

"Basically, these children delay or escape major diseases," she said.

Census figures show there are more than 50,000 centenarians in the United States.

Projections indicate that by 2050 there may more than 850,000 people who live to be 100 or older.

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