So, genetics may play a role, but a new study in Nature Medicine shows that a much greater influence on life expectancy comes from lifestyle and environmental factors. Based on data from nearly a half a million people, the research underlines the importance of modifying behaviours and environments to decrease disease risk and increase longevity.
Environmental factors dominate disease risk
The researchers analysed data from the U.K. Biobank, a vast resource that gathers and stores genetic, medical and lifestyle information. And they examined how more than 100 environmental factors — ranging from socioeconomic status to diet and smoking habits — were associated with the risk of developing 22 major diseases. Environment and lifestyle factors accounted for 17 percent of mortality risk related to disease, the study found; genetics just 2 percent.
A Proteomic Age Gap Reveals Biological Aging
A smaller subset of 45,000 participants also underwent proteomic profiling, an analysis of proteins that indicate biological aging. This analysis allowed researchers to calculate the “proteomic age gap,” or the difference between age predicted by proteins and chronological age. This proteomic age gap proved to be a strong predictor of mortality, and of aging-related phenotypes like frailty and cognitive decline.
The Four Lifestyle Characteristics Discovered
The study revealed several key lifestyle determinants of health and longevity. The behaviour most correlated with diseases was smoking, which was linked to 21 diseases. Socioeconomic measures, such as income, neighbourhood and employment status, were associated with 19 diseases. Seventeen diseases were linked to inactivity. Environmental exposures had the greatest impact on lung, heart and liver diseases.
Genetic physiology of certain diseases
While genetics was generally less important overall, it was a more significant contributor for specific diseases, the researchers found. The biggest factor affecting a person’s risk of breast, ovarian and prostate cancers, as well as of dementia, was genetics, the research showed.
How Are Future Health Outcomes Influenced Early in Edge of Pollution
And the study highlighted how early life exposures could have enduring impact. The health and mortality records of men in the sample who were 10 years old and either had high or low body weights and whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy were not as good in the decades that followed them, researchers found. This underscores the importance of early interventions and healthy habits that support a lifetime of good health.
Data-driven health and disability social determinant impact
With those data, the researchers identified several factors associated with increased lifespan. Being coupled, employed and financially secure were associated with longevity. These findings suggest that social and economic welfare is a robust predictor of health and longevity.
Future Research Directions
The researchers stress that this is not the last word on the subject. They urge more investigation into the role of diet, new pathogens such as COVID-19 and bird flu, and environmental stressors like plastics and pesticides. These lesser-known locales may offer additional insights into the complex link between environment, lifestyle and longevity.
If you enjoy this, which are known as, which are organisms present in the intestines of the intestinal tract. This demonstrates a significant opportunity to impact affected populations through targeted interventions focused on modifiable drivers of ill health. This emphasis on socioeconomic determinants demonstrates the value of policies that address disparities in health and create equal access to resources.
The identification of smoking as an important risk factor emphasizes the need to continue to implement tobacco control policies. It is particularly important to promote active lifestyles through public health initiatives and access to affordable recreational facilities, as the negative association between inactivity and several diseases highlighted in this study shows. Importantly, the proteomic age gap discussed here is therefore a novel measure of biological age that may add nuances to the biological aging process that chronological age may not capture.
They also enhance understanding of the long-term consequences of early-life exposures and the value of prenatal and childhood health. It emphasizes that some adult health outcomes are, to a certain extent, affected by maternal smoking and childhood weight, determinates that are early-in-life and amenable to prevention, potentially meaning that an individual is then set on a trajectory of healthy development. It reinforces that our well-being is intertwined with our health, and that social and economic factors will always play a role in longevity. Policy approaches that target access to employment opportunities, economic prospects, and social support systems can significantly affect population health outcomes.
The researchers’ caution that there’s more that could — and should — be studied in terms of understudied factors such as diet and environmental pollutants suggests that the study should not be the last word on what influences longevity, but a beginning to a far more nuanced understanding. Additional research planned in these areas could shed even more light on the complex interplay between environment, lifestyle and health.
