ArticlePloS one2012
Healthy lifestyle and leukocyte telomere length in U.S. women.
Article in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The relationship between physical activity and telomere length in women: A systematic review.Mechanisms of ageing and development · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of Nutrition on Telomere Health: Systematic Review of Observational Cohort Studies and Randomized Clinical Trials.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Pooled it
- Dietary patterns, food groups and telomere length: a systematic review of current studies.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2017Pooled it
- Trial
- Telomere Length Change in a Multidomain Lifestyle Intervention to Prevent Cognitive Decline: A Randomized Clinical Trial.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2021Trial
- Trial
- Weight Loss Maintenance and Cellular Aging in the Supporting Health Through Nutrition and Exercise Study.Psychosomatic medicine · 2018Trial
- Dietary inflammatory index and telomere length in subjects with a high cardiovascular disease risk from the PREDIMED-NAVARRA study: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses over 5 y.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2015Trial
- Independent and combined effects of dietary weight loss and exercise on leukocyte telomere length in postmenopausal women.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2013Trial
- Flavonoid intake and telomere length attrition among middle-aged women: a cross-sectional analysis of the Nurses' Health Study.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Longitudinal association of ultra-processed food consumption with biological aging: the mediating role of adiposity measures.GeroScience · 2026Article
- The Impact of Weight Loss Secondary to Bariatric Surgery on Telomere Biology: A Narrative Review.Biomedicines · 2026Review
- Different dimensions of smoking behavior and their associations with accelerated composite biomarkers-based biological aging in Chinese older adults.BMC geriatrics · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional Associations of Neighborhood Social and Environmental Contextual Factors with Telomere Length in Male and Female Health Professionals.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2025Article
- Serum Growth Differentiation Factor 15 is Negatively Associated with Leukocyte Telomere Length.The journal of nutrition, health & aging · 2025Article
- Article
- Cell Survival, Death, and Proliferation in Senescent and Cancer Cells: the Role of (Poly)phenols.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Review
- A Unified Model of Age-Related Cardiovascular Disease.Biology · 2022Review
- A healthy lifestyle is positively associated with mental health and well-being and core markers in ageing.BMC medicine · 2022Article
- Review
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
contextWhether a healthy lifestyle may be associated with longer telomere length is largely unknown.
objectivesTo examine healthy lifestyle practices, which are primary prevention measures against major age-related chronic diseases, in relation to leukocyte telomere length. DESIGN AND
settingCross-sectional analysis in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS).
participantsThe population consisted of 5,862 women who participated in multiple prospective case-control studies within the NHS cohort. Z scores of leukocyte telomere length were derived within each case-control study. Based on prior work, we defined low-risk or healthy categories for five major modifiable factors assessed in 1988 or 1990: non-current smoking, maintaining a healthy body weight (body mass index in 18.5-24.9 kg/m(2)), engaging in regular moderate or vigorous physical activities (≥150 minutes/week), drinking alcohol in moderation (1 drink/week to <2 drinks/day), and eating a healthy diet (Alternate Healthy Eating Index score in top 50%). We calculated difference (%) of the z scores contrasting low-risk groups with reference groups to evaluate the association of interest.
resultsAlthough none of the individual low-risk factors was significantly associated with larger leukocyte telomere length z scores, we observed a significant, positive relationship between the number of low-risk factors and the z scores. In comparison with women who had zero low-risk factors (1.9% of the total population) and were, therefore, considered the least healthy group, the leukocyte telomere length z scores were 16.4%, 22.1%, 28.7%, 22.6%, and 31.2% (P for trend = 0.015) higher for women who had 1 to 5 low-risk factors, respectively.
conclusionsAdherence to a healthy lifestyle, defined by major modifiable risk factors, was associated with longer telomere length in leukocytes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.