Adopting healthy habits, such as eating fruits and vegetables and doing regular physical activity, is sometimes difficult. But a new study published in the open access journal of the American Heart Association contributed more reasons that justify the Behavior change.
The benefit of a better heart health may be associated with the positive impact of factors of a heart-healthy lifestyle on biological aging (the age of the organism and its cells), according to new research published in Journal of the American Heart Association.
“The results of our study indicate that, regardless of actual age, Adopting more heart-healthy behaviors and controlling heart disease risk factors are associated with younger biological age and lower risk of heart disease or stroke.death from these conditions and death from any cause,” the doctor stated in a statement. Jiantao Malead author of the study.
Dr. Ma is an associate professor in the division of nutrition epidemiology and data science at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. Tufts University Bostonin the U.S.
In dialogue with InfobaeDr. Jorge Lerman, former president of the Argentine Society of Cardiology and consulting professor of cardiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), said about the paper: “It is a very valuable work, based on the study, which since 1948 has investigated cardiovascular risk factors in the population of Framingham, near Boston in the United States. In the new published study, the participants are the second and third generations of Framinghan people who have agreed to collaborate with epidemiological research.
The specialist pointed out: “8 cardiovascular risk factors have already been identified. The new study describes that the mechanism of DNA methylation It can be favored if people take the necessary actions to control risk factors. This can make each person’s biological age less than their chronological age, which is the number of years they have lived. The results of the study provide more evidence for people to follow healthy habits and reduce the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.”
What is recommended for control risk factors is:
- Adopt a healthy eating pattern that includes whole foods, plenty of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, nuts, seeds, and cooking with non-tropical oils such as olive and canola.
- Quit or not start using tobacco products
- Sleep well and at least 7 hours
- Reduce overweight
- Maintain a healthy cholesterol level
- Control blood pressure
- Control blood glucose
The study analyzed whether a chemical modification process known as DNA methylationwhich regulates gene expression, may be one of the mechanisms by which the health factors of cardiovascular diseases affect cellular aging and the risk of death.
The level of DNA methylation is biomarker most promising for estimate biological age. To some extent, biological age is determined by genetic makeup, and can also be influenced by factors related to age. Lifestyle and the stress.
The researchers examined data from 5,682 adults. The average age was 56 years. 56% of the participants were women, who had been enrolled in the Study Framingham.
Through interviews, physical examinations and laboratory tests, all participants were evaluated with the tool called “Life’s Essential 8″ from the American Heart Association.
The tool scores cardiovascular health between 0 and 100 (100 being the best score) using a composite of four behavioral measures (dietary intake, physical activity, hours slept per night, and smoking) and four clinical measures (body mass index, cholesterol, blood sugar, and blood pressure) .
Each participant was also evaluated with four tools that estimate biological age from DNA methylation and a fifth tool that evaluates the genetic tendency of a person to accelerated biological aging.
Participants were followed for 11 to 14 years for new-onset cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death, or death from any cause.
The researchers found that for every 13-point increase in an individual’s Life’s Essential 8 score, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease for the first time was reduced by about 35%, death from cardiovascular disease was reduced by 36% and death from any cause was reduced by 29%.
In participants with a genetic risk profile that made them more likely to have accelerated biological age, the score had a greater impact on outcomes potentially through DNA methylation. That is, DNA methylation represented a 39%, 39% and 78% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease, cardiovascular death and death from all causesrespectively.
Overall, it was estimated that about 20% of the association between Life’s Essential 8 scores and cardiovascular outcomes was due to the impact of cardiovascular health factors on DNA methylation. In contrast, for participants with a higher genetic risk, the association was almost 40%.
“Although there are some biological age calculators based on DNA methylation commercially available, we don’t have a good recommendation on whether people need to know their epigenetic age,” Dr. Ma said.
“Our message is that Everyone should consider the eight health factors of heart disease and stroke: eating healthy food; be more active; quit tobacco; sleep healthily; control weight; and maintain healthy levels of cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure,” she highlighted.
While, Randi Forakerprofessor of medicine at the Institute of Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics and director of the Center for Population Health Informatics, of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louisstated that the results agree with previous research.
“We know that modifiable risk factors and DNA methylation are independently associated with cardiovascular disease. “What this study adds is that DNA methylation may serve as a mediator between risk factors and cardiovascular disease,” Foraker said.
“The study highlights how cardiovascular health can influence biological aging and has important implications for healthy aging and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and potentially other health conditions,” he added.
The study analyzed health data from a subgroup of participants who attended Framingham Heart Study exams in the offspring group from 2005 to 2008 and in the third generation group from 2008 to 2011.
Participants were followed for an average of 14 years for the children of the original participants and 11 years for the grandchildren.
consulted by Infobae, Daniel Piskorzformer president of the Argentine Federation of Cardiologycommented: “Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of death and disability in our country, and practically in all countries in the world.”
Although the genetic load has a relevant impact, “the Lifestyle “It is the main variable that impacts cardiovascular health,” he noted.
“Since pregnancy, a mother who significantly increases her weight exposes her child to a greater risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. In childhood, screen time, whether with a cell phone or in front of the television, It also marks a greater propensity in the future. 80% of jobs today are sedentary, and less than 10% of the population develops the recommended physical activity. Poor nutrition, with high calorie intake, based more on palatability than on the concept of health, also has negative effects, as does environmental pollution,” Piskorz mentioned.
“The study published by the American Heart Association clearly shows that solving all these threats and barriers influences not only the evolution of people’s health. “In addition, it can be measured over time using intermediate biomarkers that show how these lifestyle changes favorably impact cardiovascular health,”
A limitation of the study is that the participants were predominantly of European ancestry. Therefore, the interactions of the 8 essential components of life and genetic aging found in this study may not be generalizable to people of other races or ethnicities.
They are now expanding the research to include people from other ethnic groups to further investigate the relationship of cardiovascular risk factors and DNA methylation, Dr. Ma said.