Good diet, physical activity, quality sleep… Having healthy habits could reduce the effects of genes that shorten lifespan by more than 60%.
- Genetic factors and lifestyle are independently associated with lifespan.
- The genetic risk of a shorter lifespan or premature death could be offset by a healthy lifestyle by approximately 62%.
- Four factors in particular constitute the optimal combination of a healthy lifestyle: not smoking, engaging in regular physical activity, getting enough sleep at night and eating a healthy diet.
Were you born with genes predisposing to disease or premature death? Chinese and British researchers have revealed that adopting a healthy lifestyle could help you gain a few years of life expectancy. In order to reach this conclusion, they conducted a study, the results of which were published in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
A polygenic risk score was obtained for 353,742 adults
As part of this research, the team examined the associations between genetic factors and lifestyle with lifespan. To do this, it recruited 353,742 adults of European origin between 2006 and 2010. A polygenic risk score was obtained for long-term (20% of participants), intermediate (60%) and short-term ( 20%). “This score combines multiple genetic variants to determine a person’s overall genetic predisposition to a longer or shorter lifespan.”
A lifestyle score, including smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, healthy figure, quality sleep and good diet, was classified as healthy lifestyle (23% of participants), intermediate (56%) and unfavorable (22%). Lifestyle was only assessed at one time point and choices varied by age.
A healthy lifestyle helps extend one’s life expectancy by almost 5.5 years at age 40
During the nearly 13-year follow-up, 24,239 volunteers died. Adults genetically predisposed to a short lifespan were 21% more likely to die prematurely than those genetically predisposed to a long lifespan, regardless of lifestyle. While genes and lifestyle appear to have an additive effect on an adult’s lifespan, an unfavorable lifestyle is independently linked to a 78% increased risk of dying prematurely, in addition to genetic predisposition. .
In contrast, healthy habits could offset the effects of life-shortening genes by more than 60%. “The optimal combination of healthy lifestyle, including never smoking, regular physical activity, adequate sleep duration and a healthy diet, has been derived to reduce the risk of premature death, i.e. before the age of 75,” can we read in the works. According to scientists, people with a high genetic risk of shortened lifespan could extend their life expectancy by almost 5.5 years by the age of 40 with a healthy lifestyle.
