Maintaining good cardiovascular health may affect a key process in how cells age, allowing people who are genetically predisposed to faster aging to reduce their risk for cardiovascular disease and death, new research suggests. The study, published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association , confirmed the benefits of following heart-healthy behaviors for all people but showed an even larger benefit in reducing the risk for heart disease and stroke, cardiovascular-related death and death from all causes for adults whose bodies showed signs of accelerated aging. "Our study showed that people with high genetic risks for aging faster can modify the risk they were born with," said the study's senior author Dr.
Jiantao Ma, an assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston. The study investigated the link between a chemical process known as DNA methylation, which regulates how genes perform their designated role, biological aging and cardiovascular health and mortality risks. Cardiovascular health was determined using the American Heart Association's Life's Essential 8, or LE8, a collection of metrics centered on diet, physical activity, nicotine exposure, sleep duration, body mass index, and blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure levels.
Prior research has shown maintaining optimal levels of these factors lowers cardiovascular disease and mortality risk as well as the risk for other chronic illnesses,.
