
The Census Bureau estimates there were 71,991 centenarians as of Dec. 1, up from 37,306 two decades earlier. Experts attribute the rise in 100-year-olds to better medical care and the dramatic drop in childhood-mortality rates since the early 1900s. They also have good genes on their side and have made common-sense health decisions, such as not smoking and keeping their weight down. Get the lesson?æ