Will you age well ? It might depend on your parents' lifespan

 Lead author Dr. Janice Atkins, of the University of

Exeter Medical School in the United Kingdom, and

colleagues publish their results in the Journal of the

American College of Cardiology .

According to the Administration on Aging, in 2014,

there were 46.2 million people in the United States

aged 65 and older. By 2060, this number is

expected to more than double, to around 98 million.

With an aging population comes a greater

prevalence of age-related diseases, unless more

strategies are identified to reduce the likelihood of

such conditions.

While lifestyle factors - such as poor diet, lack of

exercise, and smoking - are known risk factors for

poor health in older age, the research from Dr.

Atkins and colleagues has focused on how factors

inherited from parents may impact healthy aging.

Earlier this year, the team published a study in the

journal Aging that found that the offspring of

parents who live longer are more likely to possess

genes that protect against a number of health

conditions, including high blood pressure, high body

mass index ( BMI ), and type 1 diabetes .

The new study builds on those findings,

establishing a link between parents' lifespan and

disease incidence among offspring.

Heart disease death risk 20 percent lower

with longer- lived parents

To reach their findings, the team analyzed the data

of around 186,000 adults aged 55-73, following

them for up to 8 years.

Participants self-reported the lifespan of their

parents, and subjects' incidence of certain diseases

- such as heart disease and cancer - and death

from these diseases were monitored.

Compared with adults whose parents had a shorter

lifespan, those whose parents lived longer were

less likely to develop a number of cardiovascular-

related conditions, including heart disease, heart

failure, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol ,

and atrial fibrillation - abnormal heart rhythm.

In detail, the team found that for every 10 years at

least one parent lived after the age of 70, the risk

of death from heart disease among offspring was

reduced by 20 percent .

Furthermore, sons and daughters of parents who

had a longer lifespan were also less likely to

develop cancer; each longer-lived parent was

associated with a 7 percent lower cancer risk for

offspring.

These findings remained relevant after accounting

for a number of potentially confounding factors,

including smoking, high alcohol consumption, low

physical activity, and obesity, the team reports.

  Source - medicalnewstoday