A healthy lifestyle can offset the effects of genes that shorten lifespan by more than 60%, suggests an analysis of results from several large, long-term studies published online in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
Genes and lifestyle appear to have additive effects on a person's lifespan, but regardless of genetic predisposition, an unhealthy lifestyle is independently associated with a 78% increased risk of dying prematurely. research shows.
Polygenic risk scores (PRS) combine multiple genetic variations to arrive at a person's overall genetic predisposition to a longer or shorter lifespan. And lifestyle factors such as smoking, alcohol intake, diet quality, sleep duration, and physical activity level are important factors.
However, the extent to which a healthy lifestyle can offset genetic predisposition to shorter lifespans is not clear, the researchers said.
To investigate this further, they looked at a total of 353,742 adults who were recruited to UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010 and whose health status was followed until 2021.
Using data from the LifeGen Cohort Study, polygenic risk scores were derived for long-term (20% of participants), intermediate-term (60%), and short-term (20%) lifespan risks.
Additionally, a weighted healthy lifestyle score including current non-smoking, moderate alcohol intake, regular physical activity, healthy body shape, adequate sleep, and healthy eating was favorable (23% of participants). ), moderate (56%), and unfavorable lifestyle (22%) using data from the U.S. NHANES survey.
During an average follow-up period of approximately 13 years, 24,239 participants died.
People genetically predisposed to short lives were 21% more likely to die prematurely than those genetically predisposed to long lives, regardless of their lifestyle.
Similarly, regardless of genetic predisposition, people with unfavorable lifestyles were 78% more likely to die prematurely than those with favorable lifestyles.
And people who are genetically at a higher risk of having a shorter lifespan and who have led unfavorable lifestyles are genetically more likely to live longer and are less likely to die than people who have led favorable lifestyles. It was twice that.
Four factors in particular seem to make up the optimal lifestyle combination. Regular physical activity. Adequate sleep at night. and a healthy diet.
Because this is an observational study, definitive conclusions about cause and effect cannot be reached, and the researchers acknowledge that their findings have various limitations.
For example, lifestyle is only assessed at one point in time, and lifestyle choices vary by age. Additionally, all participants were of European descent, which may limit the generalizability of the study results, the researchers said.
Nevertheless, the findings suggest that the genetic risk of shortened lifespan and premature death can be offset by about 62% by a favorable lifestyle.
Researchers suggest that people at high genetic risk for a shortened lifespan can increase their life expectancy by nearly 5.5 years at age 40 if they follow a healthy lifestyle. Given that style habits tend to become fixed before middle age, steps should be taken to mitigate genetic predispositions, he added. Until then, the lifespan must be shortened.
“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 be a powerful complement to conventional medicine and reduce the influence of genetic factors on human lifespan.”
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Reference magazines:
Bian, Z. other. (2024). Genetic predisposition, modifiable lifestyle, and their joint influence on human longevity: Evidence from multiple cohort studies. BMJ Evidence-based medicine. doi.org/10.1136/bmjebm-2023-112583.