Old age begets old age, study finds
Source: Reuters
CHICAGO, March 12 (Reuters) - If your parents lived to be 85 you are less likely to develop high blood pressure, cholesterol problems and other factors involved in heart disease, according to a study published on Monday. Genetics may explain at least part of the findings, though other factors may be involved, said the report which was based on data taken from a study that began in 1948 among the residents of Framingham, Massachusetts. "Our findings suggest that individuals with long-lived parents have more advantageous cardiovascular risk profiles in middle age compared with those whose parents died younger," said the study, published in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine. "There are well-established genetic contributions to each of the risk factors that we have examined that may partially explain the reduced risk factors for those with long-lived parents," it added. The study found that the offspring studied from the longest-lived group were often born to women who had children in their 40s, perhaps an indication that delayed menopause also brings about delayed aging in women. There were also indications the children of the long-lived group were better educated than those whose parents died sooner, a possible sign of a higher socioeconomic status that could mean they were better informed and had more money for health care. The male children of long-lived parents tended not to smoke cigarettes, an indication that their parents were also likely to be nonsmokers, thus reducing one of the risks for heart disease, the study added. The study looked at 1,697 offspring at least 30 years old whose parents were in the study when it began and who had either reached age 85 or died before the beginning of 2005. The offspring were checked twice during the course of the study. Those with parents who both lived to 85 were significantly less likely to have high blood pressure and had significantly better cholesterol levels than the offspring of parents who died earlier, the Boston University School of Medicine report said. The study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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