Is it really in your DNA? Study finds people with similar genes can have different health outcomes

Having almost half a million participants, a study conducted by the Harvard Medicine makes this one thing clear i.e. your environment contributes to your health and is equally important as your DNA.

For years we've all thought about health and illness in a certain manner but new studies have indicated that your environment can significantly affect your health as much as your genes. One of the most detailed accounts of the relative importance of environmental and lifestyle factors in contrast to genetics in determining health outcomes was produced by Harvard University on a large-scale study involving more than 100,000 associations.

Method of the study

The findings showed that a significant share of the disease risk was explained by environmental factors e.g. lifestyle behaviour and the living conditions in most instances as much as by the genetic factor. Researchers followed the participants across time assessing the effects of exposures like pollution, diet, physical activity and socioeconomic conditions on health. The results indicate that genes are a factor but not the only determinant of disease.

What is an environment?

"While one single exposure might not make a massive difference in your health, the cumulative soup of exposures can be just as powerful as your DNA in determining your risk of certain diseases," said first author Chirag Patel, an associate professor of biomedical informatics at Harvard Medical School (HMS). In this context an environment covers a broad scope and they include:

• Air and water quality
• Availability of healthy food
• Sports and lifestyle
• Stress and mental health conditions.
• Socioeconomic status and health access.

Backing the new findings even the World Health Organization (WHO) states that environmental hazards are causing a substantial portion of global burden of disease such as heart diseases, respiratory diseases and some types of cancer.

The effect of environment on the body

Researchers describe how the environmental factors may modify the behaviour of the genes with mechanisms such as epigenetics where the activity of the genes is modified but the DNA is not altered. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) biological changes that lead to the risk of disease can be caused by long term exposure to adverse conditions like air pollution or chronic stress. For example a bad air quality might lead to the destruction of lung tissue and more inflammation whereas unhealthy diets could lead to obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Why This is Important to Everyday Health.

The results dispel the old notion that health outcomes are solely influenced by genetics. On the contrary they emphasize the influential role of daily decisions and environment. Even people with a genetic inclination to some diseases can lower their risk by means of healthier living and better environments. Therefore physical activity, nutrition and staying out of bad habits can greatly enhance the health outcomes in the long run.

Highlights

1. Harvard study shows that environment and lifestyle can impact health as much as genetics
2. Factors like diet, pollution, stress and living conditions significantly influence disease risk
3. Environmental exposures can alter gene activity through mechanisms like epigenetics
4. Poor air quality, unhealthy diet and chronic stress can increase your risk of serious diseases
5. Healthy habits and better environments can reduce disease risk even with genetic predisposition

What you can do to minimize risk

Although not everything related to the environment can be handled by an individual, Dr. Amit PrakashSingh, Consultant, Internal Medicine at the CK Birla Hospital, Delhi suggests reasonable measures to safeguard your health:

• Consume a healthy and well-balanced dieting.
• Stay physically active
• Limit exposure to pollution when possible
• Do not smoke and limit alcohol consumption
• Manage stress effectively
• Schedule regular health check-ups

The study published on March 18 in Nature Medicine stresses that there is an urgent need to establish stronger policies in public health to enhance the conditions in the environment. Healthcare can be more accessible, air can be cleaner and urban planning can be improved to lower the risk of diseases at the population level.

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