Photo credit: www.sciencedaily.com
While physical activity is often promoted as a method to enhance longevity, recent findings from Finnish twin studies suggest that the relationship between exercise and lifespan may be more complex than previously understood.
Researchers from the University of Jyväskylä embarked on a thorough investigation to examine the connections between long-term leisure-time physical activity and mortality rates, alongside the potential for exercise to offset the heightened risk of death associated with genetic predispositions to certain diseases. Additionally, the study looked into how physical activity influences biological aging over time.
The research encompassed a group of 22,750 Finnish twins born before 1958, with their leisure-time physical activities evaluated in 1975, 1981, and again in 1990. The follow-up on mortality rates continued until the end of 2020, allowing for an extensive analysis of health outcomes.
Moderate Activity Yields Maximum Longevity Benefits
In analyzing the data, researchers identified four distinct sub-groups based on leisure-time physical activity over a 15-year horizon: sedentary, moderately active, active, and highly active participants. Upon reviewing mortality differences at the 30-year follow-up, it was revealed that the greatest mortality reduction—7%—occurred when comparing the sedentary group to those who were moderately active. Notably, individuals who engaged in higher levels of physical activity did not experience further decreases in mortality risk. In short-term evaluations, higher activity levels correlated with lower mortality risks, but in the long term, highly active individuals showed mortality rates comparable to their sedentary counterparts.
Associate Professor Elina Sillanpää from the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences remarked, “An underlying pre-disease state can limit physical activity and ultimately lead to death, not the lack of exercise itself. This can skew the observed links between physical activity and mortality in the short term.”
Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines Does Not Guarantee a Lower Mortality Risk
The study also explored whether adhering to the World Health Organization’s physical activity guidelines, which recommend 150 to 300 minutes of moderate or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly, influences mortality rates or addresses genetic disease risks. Findings indicated that simply meeting these guidelines did not correspond with reduced mortality or a change in genetic disease risk. Among twins who followed the recommended activity levels over the 15-year span, no significant difference in mortality rates was found when compared to their less active siblings.
Postdoctoral researcher Laura Joensuu noted, “The widely reported positive correlation between physical activity and mortality is often derived from observational studies subject to various biases. In our research, we sought to mitigate these biases and, despite a long follow-up period, we couldn’t establish that following physical activity guidelines effectively reduces genetic cardiovascular disease risk or mortality.”
Link Between Physical Activity and Biological Aging is U-shaped
Within a subsample of twins, the research team utilized blood samples to estimate biological aging rates through epigenetic clocks, which measure methyl groups that influence gene expression related to aging.
According to Sillanpää, “Our findings showed a U-shaped relationship between leisure-time physical activity and biological aging: individuals who engaged in either minimal or excessive exercise experienced accelerated biological aging.” Furthermore, lifestyle factors such as smoking and alcohol consumption were significant contributors to the observed benefits of physical activity on biological aging.
The study incorporated genetic data from 4,897 twins, assessing their susceptibility to coronary artery disease and blood pressure through advanced polygenic risk scores that aggregate genome-wide morbidity risk factors. Additionally, mortality rates were tracked among 180 identical twin pairs, with biological aging rates analyzed in a group of 1,153 twins based on blood samples.
Collaboration on the research took place with the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, the Methodology Centre for Human Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä, and the Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Helsinki. The leading authors, doctoral researchers Laura Joensuu and Anna Kankaanpää, are part of the GenActive research group, which focuses on understanding the genetic and lifestyle elements predicting biological aging, health, and functional capabilities, under the leadership of associate professor Elina Sillanpää.
The study received funding from various organizations, including the Research Council of Finland, Juho Vainio Foundation, Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg Foundation, Sigrid Juselius Foundation, and Yrjö Jahnsson Foundation.
Source
www.sciencedaily.com