Mount Sinai researchers have found that healthy sleep and regular exercise can work to counteract genetic mutations in white blood cells that are associated with cardiovascular disease.
The new study was the first to prove that sufficient sleep and exercise can help to reduce the cancer-like cell expansion and atherosclerotic risk linked to mutations that spontaneously occur in white blood cells. These mutations are most common in the elderly and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease in this population.
This condition, known as clonal hematopoiesis (CH), is detectable in a quarter of people over age 70 and half of people over 80, the researchers say, though it is infrequent in young, healthy people.
Key Takeaways From This Study:
The Mount Sinai researchers discovered that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was associated with a reduced incidence of gene-specific CH and fewer mutant cells in the blood. In addition, they found:
- Sufficient sleep and exercise “turned off” the detrimental effects of mutant CH stem cells in the bone marrow, decreasing their ability to proliferate and grow, a precancerous process known as “clonal expansion”.
- A healthy lifestyle can mitigate CH clonal expansion and the atherosclerotic consequences of CH mutations, making mutant cells behave like healthy, nonmutated cells.
- Just as important, the scientists learned that healthy sleep repressed cell death and inflammatory pathways.
Ultimately, the researchers concluded that while healthy sleep and exercise are recommended for everyone, they are especially important for people with known “Jak2” and “Tet2 mutations.” “We now have the ability to use genetics to not only develop new therapies,” says Dr. McAlpine, “but to tailor lifestyle management and treatment. We hope to identify people with genetic cardiovascular disease risk factors and then advise them of the steps they can take now to mitigate that risk.”
You can read the complete study which was published in Nature by clicking on this link.