The Connection Between Health Longevity and Aging

Genetics

The Impact Of Genetic On Health Longevity

Genetics plays a significant role in determining health longevity. Longer lifespans tend to run in families, but it was unclear whether that was due to shared genes, lifestyle, or a combination of both.

A new study reveals that specific gene variants can affect human lifespan. Earlier studies have shown that these gene variants can make small organisms live longer, but this is the first time that researchers have discovered that these genes affect human longevity.

The research, published in the journal Science, was a collaboration between Maroun Bou Sleiman and Suheeta Roy at UT Health San Antonio, Johan Auwerx at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Robert Williams at the University of Tennessee, and other colleagues. The researchers found that a few genes affect longevity in a sex- and age-specific way. These genes may be involved in regulating metabolism, maintaining cells’ integrity and repairing DNA damage. They also might be involved in regulating inflammation and the immune system.

Environment And Life Span

The environment that surrounds us plays a crucial role in human life span and longevity. It influences the balance between damage and repair processes and affects a person’s phenotype, health span, and quality of life. The external environment system produces physiological and developmental changes that can have alternative phenotypes and is influenced by genetic factors as well as lifestyle behaviors [1].

Several environmental factors such as air, water, soil, urban green, social and individual environments are implicated in common age-related diseases (ARDs) and aging process. For example, the degradation of proteostasis “ the functional equilibrium between protein synthesis, folding, localization and modification“ is linked to the progression of age-related diseases.

A person’s quality of life during the aging process depends on how well their body is protected against disease and if they are able to participate in productive activities. Consequently, improving healthy longevity requires a global partnership between governments, business and civil society. It also requires an adequate supply of geriatricians and healthcare professionals.

Lifestyle – A Key Factor In Health and Longevity

The health and longevity of individuals is influenced by lifestyle choices. A healthy diet “ like the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet and other healthy diets“ and regular physical activity are key. Unhealthy habits like smoking and excessive alcohol consumption can shorten lifespans.

Longer life spans tend to run in families, suggesting that genetics and lifestyle play a role. Scientists have been studying people in their nineties and hundreds (nonagenarians and centenarians) to learn what they do that allows them to live so long. They have found that these older adults do not share much in common in terms of education or income, but many are nonsmokers and have a positive outlook on life.

As the world ages, it will need to adopt policies that support lives with healthy longevity defined as healthy years in good health approaching the biological age at which death occurs so that everyone can benefit from the added value of these extra years in life.

Meaningful Social Connections Are Critical

Having meaningful social connections in later life can be as important for longevity as diet and exercise. It has been found that people who are socially isolated are at greater risk of premature death than those with a history of smoking or high blood pressure.

Health longevity enables older adults to continue their contribution to society as active participants rather than passive recipients. Their human and social capital assets including the cognitive, socioemotional, and occupational skills they have built up over a lifetime, and their prosocial goals and intentions provide opportunities to work longer, care for others, contribute to their communities, and develop a sense of meaning and purpose.

Some Final Thoughts

Governments and civil society should build healthy longevity by investing in a combination of enabling factors: physical environments that support human mobility, geriatric-trained public health, clinical and long-term care workforces; a range of age-friendly communities; and a multisectoral approach to community engagement.

This will create a virtuous cycle of healthy longevity, whereby investments in healthy longevity generate economic and social benefits throughout the lifespan.