Key to a longer and healthier life

Dr. Niels van den Berg en Eline Slagboom, professor of Molecular Epidemiology at LUMC, previously discovered that longevity is embedded in the DNA of families in which individuals grow extremely old from generation to generation. But long life does not always mean healthy old age.

Health profile

Niels van den Berg: “We saw in our study of long-lived families in Leiden that the more long-lived ancestors a person has, the lower the mortality risk becomes relative to peers. The lower also becomes the risk of heart disease, metabolic disease or having more diseases at the same time. Also, children from long-living families require less medication in middle age and have a more favorable health profile in middle age. People from long-living families develop their first disease on average 10 years later compared to generational peers.”

Predicting diseases

The research focuses on how to measure the process of getting sick, under the motto "better prevent than cure. "Genetic testing can predict the risk of certain diseases, but it does not provide information about if and when this then happens.", explains Eline Slagboom. This does work with measuring metabolites in our blood."  Metabolites are small chemicals such as glucose and fats that give more information about what is going on in the body. Effects of a person's environment and lifestyle can also be measured this way.”

Eline Slagboom: “"We have discovered that you can still improve a lot about your own health, even if you are already past 65. Think of factors such as sufficient exercise and sleep, good nutrition, less stress and maintaining a social network."

Call

The researchers have now broadened their scope to include long-lives nationwide. Niels van den Berg: "On the website Leidenlangleven.nl there is now a call to participate. Suitable candidates are people aged 75 or older who still have a brother or sister who is at least as old and whose father and/or mother once reached at least 90."

Registration consists of completing questionnaires once and blood sampling at people's homes. Niels van den Berg hopes that family doctors, relatives and informal caregivers will also pass on the call: "In this way an important contribution is made to the health of the entire society. How wonderful it would be if we were able to detect diseases in time and keep elderly people vital for longer."