Adopting a healthy lifestyle can counteract the effects of genes that can shorten your lifespan by around 60%, according to a new analysis.
This research BMJ Evidence-based medicinefound that an unhealthy lifestyle independently increased the risk of premature death by 78%, regardless of genetic predisposition.
The authors say the study highlights the need for public health policies that encourage healthy living to reduce the burden on health services.
Participants were given a polygenic risk score and asked about lifestyle factors
Researchers analyzed more than 350,000 adults using data from the UK Biobank study. Participants were recruited between 2006 and 2010 and followed until 2021.
A polygenic risk score (PRS), which combines multiple genetic variants to derive a person's overall genetic predisposition to a longer or shorter lifespan, was derived for each participant.
A total of 20% were considered long-lived, 60% intermediate-lived, and 20% short-lived.
To assess lifestyle, participants were asked questions about whether they smoked, how much they drank, how often they exercised, their diet, sleep quality, and body shape. They were then categorized into preferred lifestyles (23% of participants), moderate lifestyles (56%), and unfavorable lifestyles (22%).
Just over 24,200 participants died during the 13-year follow-up period.
Adopting a healthy lifestyle could add more than five years to your life expectancy by age 40
Researchers found that people with a genetic predisposition to a shorter lifespan were 21% more likely to die prematurely, regardless of their lifestyle. People with an unfavorable lifestyle have a 78% higher risk of premature death, regardless of genetics.
When high genetic risk was combined with an unfavorable lifestyle, the risk of premature death was doubled compared to those with low genetic risk and a favorable lifestyle.
Four factors emerged as important components of an optimal lifestyle, including smoking cessation, regular exercise, adequate sleep, and a healthy diet.
The authors of the study emphasized the importance of the study, including its observational nature, that all participants were of European ancestry (a limitation is generalizability), and that lifestyle was only assessed at one point in time. We acknowledge that there are various limitations.
Still, researchers suggest that adopting a healthy lifestyle can reduce genetic risks and increase life expectancy by about 5.5 years by age 40.
“This study reveals the pivotal role of a healthy lifestyle in mitigating the influence of genetic factors on shortened lifespan,” the researchers concluded. “Public health policies to improve healthy lifestyles will strongly complement conventional medicine and reduce the influence of genetic factors on human lifespan.