NEW YORK, April 29 (UPI) — A healthy lifestyle can counteract the effects of genes that shorten lifespan by more than 60%, a new analysis of several large long-term studies suggests.
The study results were published online Monday in BMJ Evidence Based Medicine.
“This study investigated the joint influence of lifestyle and genetic factors on human longevity,” said one of the authors, Dr. Wu Bifeng, dean of the School of Public Health and vice president of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, China. Stated. he told UPI in an email.
Regardless of genetic determinants, an unfavorable lifestyle was associated with a 78% increased risk of death. However, Wu, who is also director of the National Institute of Health and Medical Data Science at Zhejiang University, said a favorable lifestyle could reduce the genetic risk of premature death by about 62%.
“Adhering to a healthy lifestyle has the potential to significantly reduce life expectancy in people who are genetically predisposed to a shorter lifespan,” she said.
The greatest risk applied to participants with both a genetic predisposition to a short lifespan and an unfavorable lifestyle. They had twice the risk of dying compared to people with a genetic predisposition to a long life and a favorable lifestyle, the researchers noted.
However, they point out that people with a high genetic predisposition to shortened lifespans still face a 21% increased risk of death compared to those with a lower genetic risk, regardless of their lifestyle choices. did.
The study identified the optimal combination of four lifestyle factors to extend a person's lifespan: smoking cessation, regular physical activity, getting enough sleep, and a healthy diet.
People at high genetic risk for shortened lifespans could add almost five-and-a-half years to their life expectancy by the age of 40 if they followed a healthy lifestyle, researchers said.
“Given that lifestyle behaviors are generally formed before middle age, effective public health and Implementing interventions is critical,” Wu said.
Based on research findings, she added, “No matter what your genes say, it's best to focus on building healthy habits and sticking to them.” The authors recommended that people strive to incorporate these lifestyle elements into their daily lives. ”
Additionally, Wu suggested that policymakers aim to implement “strategies that encourage and support the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors at the population level.” These efforts have the potential to reduce the influence of genetic factors on human lifespan and improve public health outcomes.
Researchers looked at data from 353,742 adults who were recruited to UK Biobank between 2006 and 2010 and whose health was followed until 2021. During an average follow-up period of almost 13 years, 24,239 participants died.
Because this was an observational study, the researchers were unable to reach a final conclusion about the cause. They also acknowledged that their findings had various limitations.
For example, researchers only assessed lifestyle 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 findings.
“This is an example of how focusing on lifestyle changes can improve overall health, especially cardiovascular health,” said Dr. Christopher Kramer, professor and chief of the cardiovascular division at Virginia Health University in Charlottesville. “This is an important study that is consistent with other evidence showing that this is the case,” he told UPI. on mail. He was not involved in the new research.
“Mortality is not necessarily predestined by our genes. Sure, genes have some influence on our longevity, but lifestyle has a far greater influence. Lifestyle There are many things we can do to extend lifespan through changes,” Kramer said.
He added that people should “continue to focus on eating well, losing weight, exercising regularly, and avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol consumption.”
But “it's very notable that the four lifestyle factors worth noting don't include alcohol consumption, which was expected to be one of the top factors,” says the Yale School of Biomedical Sciences in New Haven. said Mark Gerstein, professor of informatics and data science. , Kone.
Still, Gerstein emphasized the immense value of the UK Biobank, which is a resource brought together by the UK government. This paper relies heavily on this primary data resource, which is important evidence of its importance. '', he emphasized.
To make their case, the researchers sourced extensive data from over 350,000 Europeans monitored for an average of 13 years, showing that even if they are genetically predisposed to disease, Lifestyle factors can offset the risk of early death even if you are born in says Dr. Deborah Kado, a professor of medicine at Stanford School of Medicine in Palo Alto, California.
“Individual lifestyle choices to maximize health can have real impact,” said Kado, who is also director of the VA Palo Alto Healthcare System's Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center. I did.
Behavior “can influence how genes are expressed and ultimately whether a disease develops,” she says.