Lifestyle behavioral factors and socio-economic status play a key role in shaping healthy aging, but the influence may differ depending on your DNA, according to a new international study led by researchers at the University of Adelaide.
This study is the first to show that diet quality, physical activity, sleep, smoking, education, employment, and social participation all influence how we age, and that the effects vary depending on a person’s genetic predisposition.
The researchers focused on “intrinsic capacity,” a key indicator of healthy aging., This represents the complex of all physical and mental abilities exhibited throughout life. This allows individuals to maintain healthy functioning and perform daily tasks such as personal care, household and daily tasks, communication and social participation activities.
Using data collected from more than 13,000 participants in the Canadian Longitudinal Study of Aging (CLSA), they found that aging healthier (i.e., higher natural capacity) was associated with more physical activity, better diet, higher educational attainment, employment, and social engagement.
In contrast, decreased natural capacity, or age-related decline in function, was associated with smoking and suboptimal sleep duration, including sleep shorter or longer than recommended.
“Intrinsic capacity, a surrogate for healthy aging, is influenced by a complex interaction between genetics and modifiable socio-economic and lifestyle factors.” said lead author Associate Professor Azmeraw Amare, a researcher at the University of Adelaide’s School of Medicine.
“Our findings suggest that genetic predisposition determines how strongly socioeconomic status and lifestyle and behavioral factors influence natural performance, highlighting the gene-environment interactions that underlie healthy aging.”
It turns out that both short and long hours of sleep have a negative impact on healthy aging. The negative effects of short sleep were reduced in individuals with a genetic advantage (higher genetic load on natural performance). In contrast, the negative effects of prolonged sleep were more pronounced for middle-aged people (45 to 64 years old), who had a higher genetic predisposition to their natural performance.
A Mediterranean diet and higher education had significant advantages for a long and healthy life, with sustained benefits even among those with a low genetic predisposition to essential abilities.
“Genetic influences are more pronounced in middle age than in late life, suggesting that cumulative lifestyle and social exposures may play an increasingly important role in determining functional capacity as we age.” Lead author Melkam Bedimo Beyen, a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide’s School of Medicine, said:
This is the first study to identify how interactions between genes and modifiable lifestyle factors, such as diet quality, education level, and sleep duration, are related to natural performance.
“The good news is that some of these factors are modifiable. Our findings will help design more targeted prevention and health promotion approaches toward healthy aging.” says geriatrics expert Professor Renuka Visvanathan of the University of Adelaide.
“By focusing on maintaining functional capacity rather than waiting for disease to develop,, We will be better able to support independence and quality of life throughout adulthood and beyond. ”
The survey results are of Gerontology Journal: Biological Sciences.
The research team now plans to evaluate clinical and public health strategies targeting modifiable lifestyle factors, which they hope will encourage early intervention to promote healthy longevity and prevent functional decline.
Uncovering how both biology and lifetime exposures shape healthy aging trajectories across the life course is essential for developing policies that support functional capacity in older adults. ”
Professor John Beard, Professor Eileen Diamond, Productive Aging, Columbia University
