I discovered that the females do not age at all during pregnancies. Therefore, if I have one that has lots of children (without multiples), it's not uncommon at all for the husband to die before she even reaches elder status. Maybe this has played a part in your family, too? The only other thing I am aware of that impacts aging is the physical aspiration, and it's supposed to make the elder stage longer but not impact any other stage. I'm curious, too, if anyone's seen anything else that influences the length of their life.