Study Shows Healthy Living Can Combat ‘Life-Shortening’ Genes

Leaning into longevity by staying fit and healthy can offset many health risks, including a predisposition to illness in our genes, providing some much-needed motivation to keep moving. But bad lifestyle choices could seriously derail our efforts, say the experts. Here’s what you need to know.

While hereditary illness and genetic risks stemming from our genes is often a worrying challenge, a new study undertaken by the University of Oxford has shown that these risks pale in comparison to the dangers of placing our body in unhealthy environments.

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How was the Study Carried Out?

Researchers used the data from almost half-a-million UK Biobank participants to determine the influence of 164 environmental factors on the risk of premature death. They wanted to find out how our lifestyle choices affect our longevity, and the relationship that these choices have with any predisposition towards illness in our DNA.

What Were the Results?

“While genes play a key role in brain conditions and some cancers, our findings highlight opportunities to mitigate the risks of chronic diseases of the lung, heart and liver which are leading causes of disability and death globally,” said Professor Cornelia van Duijn, the senior author on the paper. “The early life exposures are particularly important as they show that environmental factors accelerate aging early in life but leave ample opportunity to prevent long-lasting diseases and early death.”

These “Environmental Factors” such as smoking, lack of physical activity and socioeconomic status accounted for a 17% increase in risk of death concluded the report, compared with less than a 2% risk coming from what the researchers termed as genetic predisposition. So, the next time you feel that fate has determined your time on this planet, think again, because developing better habits with food and exercise could add years to your life.

The data makes for welcome news because it brings hope to families that may have felt doomed due to the poor health of prior generations. “We have long known that risk factors such as smoking impact our heart and circulatory health, but this new research emphasises just how great the opportunity is to influence our chances of developing health problems, including cardiovascular disease, and dying prematurely,” said Professor Bryan Williams, who is the Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at the British Heart Foundation.

While the experts uncovered troubling data such as how your financial status or postcode could affect your lifespan, the take home message is that we all have ample opportunity to improve our longevity by looking after ourselves better, and you don’t need to put in as much time as you think to start reaping the rewards, with a previous study suggesting anything above 2,200 steps per day can make all the difference.