Posts Tagged ‘age associated disease’

It is a fact that lifestyle not genes predict aging.

British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology at the University of Leicester Professor Nilesh Samani, of the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, who co-led the project explained that there are two forms of ageing – chronological aging i.e. how old you are in years and biological ageing whereby the cells of some individuals are older (or younger) than suggested by their actual age.

He said: “There is accumulating evidence that the risk of age-associated diseases including heart disease and some types of cancers are more closely related to biological rather than chronological age.

Aging

All of us age at different rates, and yes some people seem to age better. That is usually attributed to good genes. While that is not entirely wrong, there are a few factors to consider. Genes are turned on and off by lifestyle factors. Entering the world with good genes is nothing to sneeze at. Everyone, would like to be blessed with good genes.

However, the expression of these genes can be turned on or off by the way one lives. Chronological aging and biological aging can be on two different clocks. Age associated-diseases conditions are more closely related to biological aging than chronological.

Telomere Length

Individuals are born with telomeres of a certain length and in numerous cells telomeres become shorter as the cell divide and age. Telomere length is a marker for biological ageing.

The results of a recent study in JAMA suggested a link between inactivity and aging. They found the telomere length of individuals exercising with moderate to high intensity workouts of 199 plus minutes per week had telomere length of individuals 10 years younger than their sedentary counterpart.

Biological age should be lower then one’s chronological age.

Use It or Lose It

Use it or lose it has relevance in this study. Since diet and exercise are ways to stay biologically young, than taking care is survival 101. Genes aren’t your destiny. Your outlook, diet, and exercise routines may be the most important components in increasing both the length and quality of your life.