Living a healthy lifestyle can slow down your genetic body clock and add five years to your lifespan, the first study of its kind has found.
This landmark study found that people who are genetically predisposed to a shorter lifespan can improve their chances of survival by exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, getting enough sleep and not smoking.
Numerous studies point out that a healthy lifestyle leads to a longer life.
The latest research confirms these findings while offering hope to people at high genetic risk for shortened lifespans.
Quitting smoking increases the chances of survival for people who are prone to premature death.
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Meanwhile, people with unhealthy lifestyles have a 78% increased chance of dying prematurely, regardless of genetic risk.
The study also found that people with both an unhealthy lifestyle and a short-lifespan gene had more than twice the risk of dying early than those with luckier genes and a healthier lifestyle. .
However, researchers found that people seemed to have some control over what happened.
Their findings showed that the genetic risk of shortened lifespan and premature death can be offset by about 62 percent by a favorable lifestyle.
“Participants at high genetic risk could increase their life expectancy by approximately 5.22 years at age 40 if they practiced a good lifestyle,” the researchers said.
The “optimal lifestyle combination” for longevity was found to be “non-smoking, regular physical activity, adequate sleep time, and a healthy diet.”
The study, published in the journal BMJ Evidence Based Medicine, followed people for an average of 13 years, during which time 24,239 people died.
People are divided into three genetically determined lifespan categories: long-lived (20.1 percent), moderate (60.1 percent), and short-lived (19.8 percent), as well as favorable lifestyle scores (23.1 percent), intermediate (55.6 percent), and percentage), were classified into three categories of unfavorable lifestyle scores. (21.3 percent).
Other scores looked at whether people smoked, whether they drank alcohol, whether they exercised, their body shape, healthy eating, and sleep.
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Researchers used polygenic risk scores to examine multiple genetic variations to derive a person's overall genetic predisposition to a longer or shorter lifespan.
Other scores looked at whether people smoked, drank alcohol, exercised, their body shape, healthy eating, and sleep.
This study reflects public health advice. According to the NHS, the elements of 'living well' include eating a balanced diet, a healthy weight, exercising, quitting smoking and cutting down on alcohol.
Researchers in the new study included staff from China's Zhejiang University School of Medicine and the University of Edinburgh.