Can longevity be inherited?

Wang Xiaofeng, associate professor of the school of life sciences of Fudan University in Shanghai, believes that usually before people turn 40, heredity accounts for about 15-25% of their lifespan. At this time, lifestyle factors still account for a very large proportion. In other words, whether they love their bodies when they are young has a great impact on their lifespan. After the age of 40, the role of heredity began to become more and more prominent, and with the growth of age, the proportion of genetic factors became larger and larger.

Research by Yeshiva University in the United States shows that heredity accounts for 70% of the longevity of centenarians, that is to say, it is the genes of those who live to this age!

the offspring of those who live longer are more likely to live longer.

If your grandparents live to be more than 90 years old, or even more than 100 years old, Congratulations! Your chances of longevity are much greater than others! Professor Wang Xiaofeng said that there is conclusive evidence that if your relatives live longer, your chances of longevity will also increase, and the closer the kinship is, the more obvious this effect will be.

How do you understand it? If your aunt lives long, your uncle lives long, your grandfather lives long, and your aunt lives long… Of course, you may also live long; But if your brothers and sisters live longer, you will get more light! According to a study by Dr. Bowers of the United States, if you have a brother or sister who is a centenarian, then your probability of living beyond the centenary is 17 times that of ordinary people.

mothers live longer, and children live longer.

Just as people always like to ask, “is height and IQ inherited from father or mother”, we are certainly concerned about who the “longevity gene” comes from. Professor Jin Li of the school of life sciences of Fudan University in Shanghai found that longevity is mainly inherited from the mother, that is, if the mother lives long, the children are more likely to live long; However, if the father lives long, the children may not live long.

Professor Wang Xiaofeng explained that many points in human mitochondria are indeed related to longevity. Mitochondria are maternally inherited, and the proportion of women in long-lived elderly people can be several times that of men. Therefore, it seems that longevity is inherited from the mother, but this inheritance is not a causal relationship, only some correlations.

how old can I predict in advance

Shigeru Takata of Keio University in Japan believes that life expectancy can be predicted by the average age of death of six people, including parents, grandparents and grandparents. The report also claims that a large number of investigations and studies have confirmed this law, which has certain reference value.

In this regard, Professor Wang Xiaofeng believes that life prediction is not a weather forecast, let alone a weather forecast that is not so accurate! In addition, weather forecast usually only reports 24-hour weather, and life prediction needs to measure the situation in decades. There are too many variables in this period. Purely in theory, if people can live in a certain environment and certain rules like laboratory mice, the prediction may be close to the truth, but in fact it is difficult to predict. Maybe an accidental illness or injury may change the trajectory of life.

can longevity genes be passed down from generation to generation

It is certain that genes can be transmitted, but how long can they be transmitted? Take the most common example: both parents have double eyelids, but the children born may not be double eyelids. In the process of inheritance, the single eyelid gene won the battle, so the double eyelid gene disappeared in this child.

The longevity gene is much more complicated than the double eyelid problem, but you can also understand it more or less according to this idea, that is, the “slight favorable gene” may be lost in the process of transmission, so we can see that some families live long for several generations in succession, while some families with less reproduction only inherit it to the second generation.

can a good lifestyle improve genes

Since the longevity gene can be inherited, wouldn’t it be a joy for everyone to “Install” a longevity gene before birth? The answer is: impossible. First of all, longevity is polygenic, and changing “one” gene can not change fate. Moreover, the issue of artificially changing genes is obviously a matter of ethical concern.

Only our way of life can be changed. In fact, heredity only accounts for 25% of the reasons for longevity, and the remaining 75% comes from lifestyle and the interaction between lifestyle and heredity.

There is no perfect person in the world, and everyone will carry some “bad” genes. For example, Jun A and Jun B both smoke, but Jun a has lung cancer, but Jun B does not. Here, perhaps genes play a role – perhaps one of Jun A’s genes is more sensitive to tobacco damage, or maybe Jun A’s repair gene is weaker. But genes don’t decide everything, but a good lifestyle can make up for the genetic weakness – if Jun a doesn’t smoke, he may not get lung cancer. If he lives in a clean air environment, he may live longer than Jun B. You can’t change your inborn genes, but you can change your “destiny” by changing your lifestyle.

In view of the above reasons, some people claim that changing your lifestyle can improve your genes, which is obviously inaccurate. DNA base sequence is a “read-only file”, which has been “written to death” since you were born. A healthy lifestyle can make you live longer, but it will not change your genes in the slightest.

don’t the descendants of those who don’t live long live long?

If you turn the sentence upside down, the theory will not hold water! If a sad family has not lived to 80 for several generations, is there no hope for future generations? Professor Wang Xiaofeng said: they may live better! Because in such an environment, people tend to pay special attention to their living habits, seek medical treatment more promptly and “diligently”, and their behavior makes up for the lost points in genes, and the final result may be longer life.

A new study has found that about one in every 10000 people is aging very slowly and is expected to live to 100 years old. According to the latest article on the American health website, it is advisable to use the research conclusions provided by scholars to see how likely you are to live a long life.

The more longevity relatives in the family pedigree, the more longevity genes in your body. A study by scholars from Boston University School of Medicine found that among centenarians, at least half of their parents, siblings or grandparents are over 90 years old.

The faster the walking speed and the longer the distance, the longer the endurance of physical strength, and it is expected to live a long life. Scholars from the University of Pittsburgh comprehensively reviewed nine different research results, and concluded that every 0.1 M / s increase in walking speed will reduce the probability of death by 12%.

Leslie Martin, of La Silla University in California, USA, believes that the possibility of longevity lies more in those who actively participate in folk activities, community public welfare activities, volunteer activities and communicate with family members, friends and colleagues.

Women are more likely to live longer. In 2010, there were 80000 centenarians in the United States, of which 85% were women. Experts speculate that estrogen and regular menstruation in the body will play a protective role and reduce the possibility of women suffering from cardiovascular diseases.

In addition to the protective effect of estrogen, experts believe that there are other reasons why women live longer than men.

Women are safer: women are more engaged in low-risk occupations such as secretarial work, medicine, literature and art, education and housework, and the risk of early death and disability is lower than that of men.

Women pay more attention to hygiene: they prefer to take a bath, wash their hair, wash their faces, wash their hands, brush their teeth and pay attention to food hygiene, which reduces the incidence of infectious diseases.

Women love to cry and nag: crying can not only relieve psychological pressure, but also remove toxins from the body in time. Constant nagging is equal to psychological catharsis at any time, and is equivalent to regular self psychotherapy

According to the research on centenarians in New England, if a woman conceives naturally and gives birth after the age of 40, she is four times more likely to live to be 100 than the average woman. Researchers speculate that a woman can still conceive and have children when she is in her 30s and 40s, which means that her reproductive system functions age more slowly than ordinary people.

A longevity report issued by the UK in 2011 shows that the average life expectancy of people born in different years is different, and its conclusion is worth learning from. The report speculates that a British girl born in 2011 has a 1 / 3 chance of living to be 100 years old, while a boy born in 2010 has a 1 / 4 chance.

However, it is better to be too careful. Leslie Martin believes that those who always think that disaster is coming, look at problems from a single perspective and criticize themselves will be more likely to die early.

He also found that moderate anxiety can halve the probability of death in any year. People with this character are not impulsive and risk-taking, and always leave a good way for themselves, which will play a protective role.

If you don’t have obesity, your chances of longevity will increase. The results of a study released by Einstein Medical College in 2011 were very unexpected. Through a follow-up survey of 477 long-lived people aged between 95 and 112, it was found that their only advantage was that they were less likely to suffer from obesity.

A recent study by American scientists shows that weight is only a rough indicator. If a person wants to live a long life, he should also look at his waist circumference. Even a normal weight person with a big belly means a short life.

After analyzing blood samples of more than 400 people, scientists found that the factors that determine life span depend on the length of gene telomeres. Non smoking, eating a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and doing 20 minutes of aerobic exercise every day can prolong the length of telomeres.

Scholars from the longevity research center of Stanford University have found through long-term research that having a positive and optimistic mood about life will reduce the intensity of stress, which will also reduce the secretion level of stress hormones and contribute to health.

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