For instance, in addition to presiding over the long - running Leiden 85 - plus study, which tracks cognitive decline and risk factors for heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses in people 85 and older, Westendorp came up with an innovative and inexpensive way to explore the evolutionary tradeoff between longevity and fertility: analyzing
old genealogical records of British aristocrats.
In 2012, Stewart stumbled across a 1914 newspaper article about them and went on to uncover their amazing history through
genealogical archives, court
records,
old newspapers, and interviews with family members.