How do genes and lifestyle affect aging?

A new study indicates that genes play an important role in your appearance as you age. However, environmental factors can also significantly influence this process. This article helps you better understand the impact of genes and lifestyle on aging.

A new study shows that genes play an important role in your appearance as you age, but the real contributors to aging wrinkles have to do with behavioral choices like smoking, eating, and drinking. drinking and exposure to the sun.
The study was published online in the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Researcher Bahman Guyuron, MD, chair of the department of plastic surgery at University Hospital, Case Medical Center in Cleveland.
The study involved 186 pairs of identical twins. During the study, the researchers obtained comprehensive questionnaires and digital images from all twins. An independent panel reviewed the images and recorded the age difference between the siblings.
Guyuron shares that research shows that non-genetic factors can be the main culprits behind wrinkles, lines and blemishes. But anything that puts stress on your life, such as a job you hate or too much debt, can also shape your facial contours later in life.
He says: “Identical twins, unless they behave exactly the same, will show different life experiences on their faces. "If the biological clock is designed to make you age in some way, you can change that by eliminating some of the external factors that make you age faster."
Guyuron said these factors include smoking, drinking and eating. Depression can also lead to lines and wrinkles, even when people with that condition take antidepressants.
The relaxation of facial muscles due to the use of antidepressants may be the reason why more sagging was observed in twins taking such drugs.
Richard Winer, MD, a psychiatrist in Atlanta, says that in his 24 years of practice, he has noticed that people who take antidepressants soon look better and have fewer wrinkles as they age.
He said: “When people are depressed, they tend to not take care of themselves, they may smoke and drink more. "In general, when people are happier, they tend to look younger. Colleagues have noticed the same thing."

Geneticist Yellin says, "You have very good control over your appearance at age 45, 55 or 65. If you eat well, maintain a good body mass index, don't smoke, Wear sunscreen and keep yourself fit, then you'll look better than your genetically identical twin who makes bad decisions, eats fatty, greasy foods Ignore sunbathing advice."
Yellin says that after age 40, people with "a higher-than-average weight look younger because fat stretches the skin," reducing the appearance of wrinkles. , but no one should gain weight to not look old.
The researchers looked at identical twins because they are genetically programmed to age in exactly the same way. But Guyuron says research shows "you can cheat your biological clock" by making smart choices, such as not smoking.
He says: “Some patients, especially those with eating disorders, feel they will look younger if they lose a lot of weight after age 40. "But it actually makes you look older."
He says he doesn't advise people with bad marriages to stay together, but the faces of the twins in the study showed that the divorced looked almost two years older than the older brothers. sisters are not divorced.
In twins under 40, the heavier ones are considered older, but in those over 40, the lighter ones look older, Guyuron says.
Guyuron says the study is important for two reasons: "First, we've discovered a number of new factors that contribute to the aging process, and second, our findings put the science to the fore. I think volume replacement rejuvenates the face."

Reference source: webmd.com