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Why family history matters

Why it matters

Genes set part of your lifespan, but a smaller part than most people think: twin studies put it at about 25% [1], and family-tree data suggest lower still [2]. Long-lived parents and grandparents still raise your own odds of a long life [3], and a parent with early heart disease roughly doubles your own risk of it [4].

Sources

  1. [1]Herskind AM, McGue M, Holm NV, et al., Hum Genet 1996 Evidence: Low
  2. [2]Ruby et al., Genetics 2018 Evidence: Low
  3. [3]van den Berg N, Rodríguez-Girondo M, van Dijk IK, et al., Nat Commun 2019 Evidence: Moderate
  4. [4]Lloyd-Jones DM, Nam BH, D'Agostino RB Sr, et al., JAMA 2004 Evidence: Low