There are many factors that affect your health, including your diet and exercise habits. However, genetics and family upbringing also have a big impact on your health.
Now, a new study has found that something as simple as whether your grandparents attended college can affect your health. “Health is transmitted across generations,” Agus Slakman, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health, tells Yahoo Life.
The findings raise many questions about the link between grandparental education and biological age, and what role family tree can play in an individual’s health. From cancer risk to hairline, here’s what doctors say grandparents can influence.
education and aging
That’s the key takeaway from Slachman’s study, published in the journal Social Science & Medicine. For the study, researchers analyzed three generations of data from the NHLBI Growth and Health Study, looking at education for parents and grandparents and health data for parents and their children.
Slakman and his team found that grandchildren of grandparents who had a college education had slower biological aging (a measure of their cellular age) than grandchildren of grandparents who did not graduate from college. (Biological aging uses saliva swabs to measure DNA methylation, which changes with age.)
There could be several reasons for this, Slakman says. “We know that socio-economic advantages create further advantages,” he says. “Having college-educated grandparents means your own parents are also more likely to have a college education, which means better income and more wealth.” That means people may grow up with access to healthier nutrition, more stable housing, better health care, etc., all of which can ultimately influence how healthy a person becomes. , says Slakman. But Slakman added that more research is needed to parse all this out. “There are many other unexplored factors that could explain this association,” he says.
cancer risk
Carolyn Haskins, a certified genetic counselor at Moffitt Cancer Center, tells Yahoo Life that having a grandparent with certain types of cancer can affect your own risk of developing cancer. Ta.
“It’s important to know what health conditions you may be at risk for, and one way to gain insight into issues that may put your family at increased risk is through your family history. That’s the thing,” she says. “People usually think of their family as a nuclear family, which includes first-degree relatives such as parents, siblings, and children. However, family history extends beyond first-degree relatives; We often learn more about our families through older generations, such as grandparents.”
Haskins says it’s important to tell your doctor if you have a family history of cancer. “If your doctor knows your family history of cancer, she can plan to increase testing if necessary,” she says. For example, public health officials recommend that people with a family history of colon cancer start having colonoscopies at an earlier age than the general population. People who have grandparents or other relatives with a known BRCA mutation may also need to see a genetic counselor for risk assessment and possibly be screened.
Ultimately, Haskins says it’s important to share your family’s cancer history with your health care provider and follow their advice on next steps from there.
hair line
Dr. Aife J. Rodney, a dermatologist and founding director of Eternal Dermatology + Aesthetics, tells Yahoo Life that several ways can influence whether grandparents experience hair loss. . “Some people may be genetically predisposed to hair loss,” she says. Rodney points out that male pattern baldness, also known as male pattern baldness or female pattern baldness, tends to run in families.
However, grandparents can also influence the risk of hair loss through their hairstyle, increasing the likelihood of stress on the hair follicles and hair. “Certain hairstyles are cultural, and your grandparents’ hairstyles can also influence your own,” says Rodney. She claims that certain hair grooming patterns and hairstyles increase the risk of hair loss, such as tight ponytails, braids, and chemical treatments.
Her advice is to “avoid harsh grooming as much as possible and consult a dermatologist as soon as possible if you notice hair thinning.” “Time is of the essence when it comes to hair removal,” says Rodney. “It’s much easier to protect the hair you have than the hair you’ve lost.”
mental health
Having a grandparent with a mental health condition may increase your risk of developing a mental health condition yourself, says Dr. Schneider, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor at New York University Langone Health, on the podcast “Mind.” “In View” co-host Thea Gallagher told Yahoo Life. “We’re getting more information trying to collect as much data on family history as possible to understand how much is genetic and how much is a person’s environment,” she says. “We still have a long way to go, but in some cases there may be a genetic link.”
Although research has proven that certain mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder and depression, have a genetic component, Gallagher said identifying a family history of mental health disorders is difficult due to stigma. It is said that it can be difficult to Considering that when our grandparents were young, mental health was less commonly discussed than it is today, it’s important to remember that when your grandparents were young, mental health was less commonly discussed than it is today. People may say it’s never happened,” Gallagher said. “Parents and grandparents may also want to protect their children because of the shame associated with mental health, but may not discuss it,” she added.
Even if you have a family history of, or suspect you may have, a mental health condition, Gallagher recommends being proactive about learning the signs of that specific condition so you can monitor yourself. Masu. If you have concerns, you can also ask your health care provider for an evaluation. Gallagher also said other factors in your life that can impact your mental health include practicing good nutrition, getting at least seven hours of sleep a night, and exercising regularly. We suggest that you do your best to make the most of it. “There is significant data showing that these can have a strong impact on mental health,” she says.
heart health
Dr. David J. Slotwiner, chief of cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, tells Yahoo Life that having a grandparent with heart disease increases your risk of developing heart disease yourself. It’s “due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors,” he says.
“Certain genetic mutations can be inherited, such as those that control things like cholesterol metabolism, fat processing, and blood pressure control, and can make you more susceptible to heart disease,” Slotwiner says. But shared family habits such as diet, exercise patterns and smoking can also influence risk, he added.
If you have a grandparent with a history of heart disease, please share that information with your doctor, Dr. Chen-Han Chen, an interventional cardiac specialist and medical director of the Structural Heart Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, California. ) is recommended. Yahoo Life reports. “Family history of heart disease is certainly one of the determinants of risk for developing cardiovascular disease, especially early heart disease,” he says.
Doctors can use this information to adjust screening recommendations and medical interventions, Slottwiner said. “In some cases, enhanced screening may be needed, including earlier and more frequent testing of blood pressure, cholesterol, and heart function,” he added.
However, Chen emphasizes that “having a relative with heart disease does not necessarily determine one’s fate.” Instead, she recommends focusing on factors that can be controlled through habits such as regular exercise, eating a heart-healthy diet, avoiding smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and regular health check-ups. I am. These factors are “very important in mitigating risk,” says Slotwiner.
