Genetics alone can mean a 21% greater risk of early death, research finds, but people can improve their chances
A healthy lifestyle may offset the impact of genetics by more than 60% and add another five years to your life, according to the first study of its kind.
It is well established that some people are genetically predisposed to a shorter lifespan. It is also well known that lifestyle factors, specifically smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and physical activity, can have an impact on longevity.
However, until now there has been no investigation to understand the extent to which a healthy lifestyle may counterbalance genetics.
Findings from several long-term studies suggest a healthy lifestyle could offset effects of life-shortening genes by 62% and add as much as five years to your life. The results were published in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine.
Ok, now how much does poverty reduce that 60% by? And racism? Sexism? Ablesim? Queerphobia? Not only because of the significant addition of stress these bring, but also the lack of access to whatever the fuck the marketing department tells us a “healthy lifestyle” is nowadays (because it sure as shit isn’t thigs like work less, have access to fresh food and the free time and education on how to prepare it, a functional healthcare system, or reducing the stressors that get people smoking and drinking in the first place, but rather over subscribed “wonder drugs”, fad diets, made up and expensive nonsense like overpriced “organic” produce and “superfoods”, and whatever “self care” they can get people to spend most money on at any given point).
Basically this “may offset” claim is meaningless as long as it doesn’t consider all of the environmental factors, which would lead to the conclusion that it isn’t a “healthy lifestyle” that is impacting people’s lifespan, but their class, race, gender and sexual orientation, and abledness, all of which impact what “lifestyle” people even have access to in the first place.
