Did you know that your genes also influence how long you will live? Some people have a genetic predisposition to live longer, but others are not so lucky. However, it seems that it is possible to overcome the shorter life genes by compensating with healthy habits. This is what a new study indicates.
To investigate the relationship, researchers analyzed data from 353,742 adult participants in the UK Biobank, recruited between 2006 and 2010, and followed their health until 2021. The research aims to understand whether the negative effects of a genetic predisposition can be mitigated or overcome by practical practices. healthy lifestyle.
Gene-related life expectancy is measured by the polygenic risk score (PRS), which synthesizes several genetic variants to determine a person’s tendency to live longer or shorter. On the other hand, lifestyle assessment encompasses habits such as smoking, alcohol consumption, diet quality, sleep patterns and physical activity levels.
- Participants were divided into three groups considering the PRS: those with a genetic predisposition for a long, intermediate and short life.
- They were also categorized by lifestyle, favorable, intermediate and unfavorable.
- People with the short-life genes were 21% more likely to die early, regardless of their lifestyle.
- Likewise, participants with an unfavorable lifestyle had a 78% chance, regardless of their genetic predisposition.
- Those with a genetic risk of short life and unfavorable habits were twice as likely to die than those with the genetics of longevity and a healthy lifestyle.
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Lifestyle compensates for genetics
The study results suggest that a healthy lifestyle can offset part of the genetic risk of short life or premature death, by up to 62%. Adopting healthy lifestyle measures from an early age can extend the life expectancy of people at high genetic risk by about 5.5 years by age 40.
This study is only observational and does not define cause and effect, but researchers already believe that changing the population’s habits can prolong our stay in this universe.
Public health policies to improve healthy lifestyles would serve as potent complements to conventional health care and mitigate the influence of genetic factors on human life expectancy
Excerpt from the scientific article published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
