Longevity can be transmitted through the mother
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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American specialists representing the University of California (San Diego) say: women whose mothers have been able to live for ninety years or more also have every chance to live a long time, and without developing serious pathologies and complications in the form of disabilities. The research of scientists was conducted under the guidance of Professor Aladdin Shadyab.
The quality of health and life of older people is one of the main aspects of considerable interest to the public health workers of the United States. According to statistics from this country, the number of people who have reached old age is rapidly increasing every year. For this reason, over the past five decades, scientists have conducted a wide variety of studies aimed at studying the phenomenon of age-related changes as such. However, in most cases, specialists were able to detect only superficial moments that could affect the quality and longevity.
The extreme research project helped to identify several unique patterns that influence a person’s ability to live long.
Scientists monitored the health and quality of life of twenty-two thousand postmenopausal women. As a result, experts established an interesting fact: if the mother’s life expectancy was at least ninety years or more, then her daughter also has a 25% chance of living for at least a long time. In this case, it was not so much the number of years of a woman that was of decisive importance, but her general state of health and state of health in her later years. If older women led an active life without stressful overloads, were engaged in favorite activities, regularly walked in the fresh air, and quietly spent time, then their lifespan was significantly higher.
Experts note that the quality and longevity of men in no way influenced the longevity of their daughters, even if the father lived for more than ninety years.
However, if both parents — mother and father — lived happily ever after, then their daughters had a 40% chance of living the same long life.
Professor Shadyab with his team of scientists suggests that the basic point of such a pattern can be the ratio of genetic predisposition, environmental quality and ecology, as well as behavioral characteristics - that is, a combination of factors that are passed on to generations on the maternal line. In addition, the researchers note: the daughters, whose mothers were long-lived, remained intellectually and physically active until their old age, maintained a healthy diet, and the average annual income of their families was higher.
The research results are published in the periodical edition Age and Aging, as well as on the page https://academic.oup.com/ageing/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/ageing/afy125/5067592?redirectedFrom=fulltext.
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