Results of yet another study focusing on the high life expectancy and high health quality enjoyed by residents on the eastern Aegean island of Ikaria will be unveiled next month in Athens, during a conference called "Makrozoia", Greek for longevity.
The study, headed by cardiology professor Christodoulos Stefanadis, is called, fittingly, "Ikaria".
Initial results apparently confirm the fact that the island's nearly 8,500 permanent residents are included among the five regions on earth with the highest rates of longevity.
The reasons behind the high life expectancy on the island has long been the focus of studies and popular fascination, with island residents' lifestyle, their diet and environmental factors under scrutiny.
According to Prof. Stefanadis, it's the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in fruits, vegetables and fish, along with a preference for unfiltered Turkish-style coffee, moderate wine consumption, daily exercise and low stress levels that are the island's "ingredients" for a long life.
The first person to chronicle the longevity phenomenon on Ikaria was Samos Archbishop Joseph Georgirenes some 350 years, who wrote in a 1677 book published in London that "the most noteworthy things on this island (Ikaria) are its air and water, which are so healthy that they render their residents as long living."
