Healthy lifestyle may offset genetics by 60% and add five years to life

Healthy lifestyle may – A healthy lifestyle can offset the impact of genetics by more than 60% and add another five years to your life, according to the first study of its kind.

It is well established that some people are genetically predisposed to a shorter life expectancy. It is also well known that lifestyle factors, specifically smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, and physical activity, can have an impact on longevity.

The study involved 353,742 people from the UK Biobank and showed that those with a high genetic risk of a shorter life have a 21% higher risk of premature death compared to those with a low genetic risk, regardless of their lifestyle. life.

However, until now no research has been done to understand the extent to which a healthy lifestyle can counteract genetics. Findings from several long-term studies suggest that a healthy lifestyle could offset the effects of genes that shorten lifespan by 62% and add up to five years to your life. The results were published in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.

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“This study clarifies the critical role of a healthy lifestyle in mitigating the impact of genetic factors in reducing life expectancy,” the researchers concluded. “Public health policies to improve healthy lifestyles would serve as powerful complements to conventional healthcare and mitigate the influence of genetic factors on human life expectancy.

However, the researchers found that people seemed to have some degree of control over what happened. They found that the genetic risk of a shortened life or premature death can be offset by a favorable lifestyle by about 62%.

Meanwhile, people with unhealthy lifestyles have a 78% higher chance of premature death, regardless of their genetic risk, researchers from Zhejiang University School of Medicine in China and the University of Edinburgh found.Healthy lifestyle may

The study added that having an unhealthy lifestyle and shorter lifespan genes more than doubled the risk of premature death compared to people with luckier genes and healthy lifestyles.Healthy lifestyle may

The study followed people for an average of 13 years, during which time 24,239 deaths occurred. People were grouped into three genetically determined life expectancy categories: long (20.1%), intermediate (60.1%), and short (19.8%), and three lifestyle score categories: favorable ( 23.1%), intermediate (55.6%), and unfavorable (21.3%). Healthy lifestyle may

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Matt Lambert, health promotion and information manager at the World Cancer Research Fund, said: “This new research shows that, despite genetic factors, leading a healthy lifestyle, including a balanced nutritious diet, and staying healthy. active, it can help us live longer.Healthy lifestyle may

The researchers used polygenic risk scores to look at multiple genetic variants and arrive at a person’s overall genetic predisposition to a longer or shorter life. Other scores looked at whether people smoked, drank alcohol, exercised, their body shape, a healthy diet, and sleep.Healthy lifestyle may