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Background We used a polygenic score for hand grip strength (PGS HGS) to investigate whether genetic predisposition for higher muscle strength predicts age-related noncommunicable diseases, survival from acute adverse health events, and mortality. Methods This study consisted of 342 443 Finnish biobank participants from FinnGen Data Freeze 10 (53% women) aged 40–108 with combined genotype and health registry data. Associations between PGS HGS and a total of 27 clinical endpoints were explored with linear or Cox regression models. Results A higher PGS HGS was associated with a reduced risk of selected common noncommunicable diseases and mortality by 2%–10%. The risk for these medical conditions decreased by 5%–23% for participants in the highest PGS HGS quintile compared to those in the lowest PGS HGS quintile. A 1 standard deviation (SD) increase in the PGS HGS predicted a lower body mass index (β = −0.112 kg/m2, standard error [ SE ] = 0.017, p  = 1.69E-11) in women but not in men (β = 0.004 kg/m2, p  = .768). PGS HGS was not associated with better survival after acute adverse health events compared to the nondiseased period. Conclusions The genotype that supports higher muscle strength appears to protect against future health adversities, albeit with modest effect sizes. Further research is needed to investigate whether or how a favorable lifestyle modifies this intrinsic capacity to resist diseases, and if the impacts of lifestyle behavior on health differs due to genetic predisposition for muscle strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The purpose of the study was to estimate the heritability of leukocyte telomere length (LTL) and lung function and to examine whether LTL and lung function share genetic or environmental effects in common.Methods: 386 monozygotic and dizygotic Finnish twin sisters (age 68.4±3.4 years) were included. Relative LTL was determined from peripheral blood DNA by qPCR. Lung function measures of FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, and PEF were derived from spirometry. Genetic modeling was performed with MPlus statistical software.Results: Univariate analysis revealed that in LTL, 62% (95% confidence interval 50-72) of the variance was explained by additive genetic and 38% (28-50) by unique environmental factors. For FEV1, FVC, and PEF, the corresponding estimates were 65%-67% for additive genetic and 33%-35% for unique environmental factors. Across the sample, the phenotypic correlation between LTL and FEV1 was modest (r = .104, p = .041). Bivariate correlated factors model revealed that the genetic correlation between LTL and FEV1 was .18 (-0.19 to 0.64) and environmental correlation was -.10 (-0.84 to 0.55).Conclusions: Both LTL and lung function variables are moderately to highly genetically determined. The associations between LTL and the lung function variables were weak. However, the positive genetic correlation point estimate gave minor suggestions that, in a larger sample, genetic factors in common might play a role in the phenotypic correlation between LTL and FEV1. Future studies with larger samples are needed to confirm these preliminary findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The purpose of the present study was to examine, first, whether hearing acuity predicts falls and whether the potential association is explained by postural balance and, second, to examine whether shared genetic or environmental effects underlie these associations. Methods. Hearing was measured using a clinical audiometer as a part of the Finnish Twin Study on Aging in 103 monozygotic and 114 dizygotic female twin pairs aged 63-76 years. Postural balance was indicated as a center of pressure (COP) movement in semitandem stance, and participants filled in a fall-calendar daily for an average of 345 days after the baseline. Results. Mean hearing acuity (better ear hearing threshold level at 0.5-4 kHz) was 21 dB (standard deviation [SDI 12). Means of the COP velocity moment for the best to the poorest hearing quartiles increased linearly from 40.7 mm²/s (SD 24.4) to 52.8 mm2/s (SD 32.0) (p value for the trend = .003). Altogether 199 participants reported 437 falls. Age-adjusted incidence rate ratios (IRR5) for falls, with the best hearing quartile as a reference, were 1.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.4-3.8) in the second, 4.1(95% Cl = 1.1-15.6) in the third, and 3.4 (95% Cl = 1.0-11.4) in the poorest hearing quartiles. Adjustment for COP velocity moment decreased IRRs markedly. Twin analyses showed that the association between hearing acuity and postural balance was not explained by genetic factors in common for these traits. Conclusion. People with poor hearing acuity have a higher risk for falls, which is partially explained by their poorer postural control. Auditory information about environment may be important for safe mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]