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Here's how you can outlive your parents

2023-08-28 18:07:00, Shëndeti CNA

Illustrative photo

Your family tree can give you a glimpse of your future health - but it's not too late to change what was once "set in stone".

All of us owe our looks, our penchant for certain hobbies and, to some degree, how fun, impulsive and creative we are to our ancestors.

Earlier this week, a study from the University of Oxford found that one of the main risk factors for developing dementia is a parental history of the disease.

Not long ago, the only way to gauge your future susceptibility to disease was to take a look at your family tree. But this is not at all accurate as there are few guarantees in genetics. As well as lifestyle factors, most chronic diseases arise from the cumulative effects of many gene variants in your genome – each of which can be inherited from different ancestors – that together combine to increase risk.

So, for these four chronic diseases, lifestyle changes, preventive tests and even surgery can help to change what was once in your health:

cancer

In 2013, Angelina Jolie made an announcement that would change the lives of millions of women around the world. Writing in the New York Times, she explained that she had a faulty copy of a gene known as BRCA1, which gave her an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer and a 50 percent chance of developing ovarian cancer during her life. . Having lost her mother to ovarian cancer, she was keenly aware of the risk.

Heart dissases

According to Sir Nilesh Samani, professor of cardiology at the University of Leicester and medical director of the British Heart Foundation, genetics can play a big role when it comes to heart muscle disease, the life-threatening abnormal heart rhythms known as channelopathy and familial hypercholesterolemia or very high cholesterol levels.

Arthritis

Genetic factors contribute to about 60 percent of the risk of rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain in the small joints of the hands and feet, as well as stiffness and swelling.

Dementia

In November 2022, Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth revealed that he carries two copies of a gene variant called APOE4, something that makes him eight to 10 times more genetically predisposed to Alzheimer's.

For example, social isolation, an unhealthy diet, excessive alcohol consumption, poor sleep and lack of exercise are all thought to be bigger contributors to dementia than your DNA.

According to Joyce Shaffer, a psychologist and behavioral scientist at the University of Washington, taking steps to improve your lifestyle in midlife can make a difference./ CNA