ArticleThe lancet. Healthy longevity2022
Modifiable traits, healthy behaviours, and leukocyte telomere length: a population-based study in UK Biobank.
Article in The lancet. Healthy longevity, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 46 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
46 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Highlights a Link Between Aerobic Fitness and Telomere Maintenance.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025Pooled it
- A clinically practical aging clock (physical clock) for healthy aging: development, validation, and application for health assessment and intervention.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Article
- Long-Term Ambient Benzene Exposure and Brain Disorders Among Urban Adults: Effect Modification by Genetic Susceptibility and Potential Mediation by Plasma Proteins.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Biological Aging, Immune Phenotypes, and Susceptibility to COVID-19 and Sepsis: A Mendelian Randomization Study.Virus research · 2026Article
- Prenatal tobacco exposure and adult offspring brain health: the mediating role of leukocyte telomere length in a large population-based cohort.Translational psychiatry · 2026Article
- Extracurricular physical activity and telomere length in childhood: findings from the INMA study.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- GWAS reveals common SLX4 variants associated with telomere length and hypertension in individuals of African ancestry.Genes & genomics · 2026Article
- Genomic, phenomic and geographic associations of leukocyte telomere length in the United States.Nature genetics · 2026Article
- Cardiovascular disease, 24-h movement behaviors and all-cause mortality: a compositional mediation analysis based on a prospective cohort.Journal of exercise science and fitness · 2026Article
- Interactive effects of telomere length and genetic variants on Alzheimer disease risk across multiple ancestral populations.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2026Article
- Epigenome-wide association study of leukocyte telomere length and their effects on smoking-induced lung tumorigenesis: insights from the Dongfeng-Tongji cohort study.Clinical epigenetics · 2026Article
- Biological aging and lifespan in men and women using a Mendelian randomization study.Human genomics · 2025Article
- Causal association of dietary intake habits and telomere lengths: A Mendelian randomization study.Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Modifiable traits and genetic associations with grey matter volume in mid-to-late adulthood: a population-based study in the UK biobank.npj aging · 2025Article
- Association of Leucocyte Telomere Length With Stroke, Dementia, and Late-Life Depression: The Role of Modifiable Risk Factors.Neurology · 2025Article
- Causal association between dietary factors and telomere length revealed by mendelian randomization.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Telomeres in Space.Aging cell · 2025Article
- The duration of lithium use and biological ageing: telomere length, frailty, metabolomic age and all-cause mortality.GeroScience · 2024Observational
- Micronutrient intake and telomere length: findings from the UK Biobank.European journal of nutrition · 2024Article
- The negative association between sodium-driven nutrient pattern and telomere length: the chain mediating role of diastolic pressure and waist circumference.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 6 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Background: Telomere length is associated with risk of several age-related diseases and cancers. We aimed to investigate the extent to which telomere length might be modifiable through lifestyle and behaviour, and whether such modification has any clinical consequences. Methods: In this population-based study, we included participants from UK Biobank who had leukocyte telomere length (LTL) measurement, ethnicity, and white blood cell count data. We investigated associations of LTL with 117 potentially modifiable traits, as well as two indices of healthy behaviours incorporating between them smoking, physical activity, diet, maintenance of a healthy bodyweight, and alcohol intake, using both available and imputed data. To help interpretation, associations were summarised as the number of equivalent years of age-related change in LTL by dividing the trait β coefficients with the age β coefficient. We used mendelian randomisation to test causality of selected associations. We investigated whether the associations of LTL with 22 diseases were modified by the number of healthy behaviours and the extent to which the associations of more healthy behaviours with greater life expectancy and lower risk of coronary artery disease might be mediated through LTL. Findings: 422 797 participants were available for the analysis (227 620 [53·8%] were women and 400 036 [94·6%] were White). 71 traits showed significant (p<4·27 × 10 Interpretation: Although several potentially modifiable traits and healthy behaviours have a quantifiable association with LTL, at least some of which are likely to be causal, these effects are not of a sufficient magnitude to substantially alter the association between LTL and various diseases or life expectancy. Attempts to change telomere length through lifestyle or behavioural changes might not confer substantial clinical benefit. Funding: UK Medical Research Council, UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, and British Heart Foundation.
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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.