What has the most impact on longevity?
Ask the doctor
My family tends to be long-lived. I hear longevity is due to our DNA, and I also hear it's due to lifestyle. Which is it, and how do they make us live longer?Most of us want to live as long as we can, but we want to do so free of diseases. Living longer is one thing; prolonging decrepitude is another. A recent study from Harvard Medical School suggests that genes associated with longer life may also protect against age-related diseases. The scientists created a virus that carried three "longevity genes" into mice — a technique called gene therapy. They found that these longevity genes also protected the mice from (1) becoming obese, even when fed a high-fat diet; (2) developing the mouse equivalents of type 2 diabetes and heart failure; and (3) suffering a particular kind of kidney failure. Things that work in mice don't always work in people. But this study suggests it may someday be possible to use gene therapy not only to prolong life, but also to prevent some age-related diseases.
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