A recent study conducted at the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Jyväskylä has revealed that individuals with a genetic predisposition for higher muscle strength tend to have a longer lifespan and a lower risk for developing common diseases. This study, which is the most comprehensive international study to date on hereditary muscle strength and its relationship to morbidity, analyzed the genome and health data of over 340,000 Finns. Muscle strength, especially hand grip strength, is considered an indicator of an individual’s physiological resources to protect against age-related diseases and disabilities, as well as their ability to cope with them. While age-related loss of muscle strength is influenced by lifestyle and genetics, individuals with a genetic predisposition for higher muscle strength were found to have a slightly lower risk for common noncommunicable diseases and premature mortality.
Despite the positive association between genetic predisposition for muscle strength and lower risk for common diseases, this predisposition did not predict better survival after acute adverse health events compared to the time before illness onset. The study suggested that a genetic predisposition for higher muscle strength may reflect an individual’s intrinsic ability to resist and protect oneself against pathological changes that occur during aging rather than the ability to recover or bounce back completely after severe adversity. The research utilized a unique study population and defined the genetic predisposition for muscle strength by constructing a polygenic score, summarizing the effects of hundreds of thousands of genetic variants into a single score. Researchers were able to compare participants with high or low genetic predispositions for muscle strength and investigate associations with inherited muscle strength and common diseases.
Further research is still needed to understand the effects of lifestyle factors alongside genetics in modifying an individual’s ability to resist diseases and whether the impact on health differs among individuals. The study utilized the internationally unique FinnGen dataset, compiled through the collaboration of Finnish biobanks, which included 342,443 Finnish individuals aged 40 to 108 years. The diagnoses selected for the study were based on leading causes of death and significant noncommunicable diseases in Finland, including cardiometabolic and pulmonary diseases, musculoskeletal and connective tissue diseases, falls and fractures, mental health and cognitive disorders, cancers, as well as overall mortality and mortality from cardiovascular diseases.
The study, which is the second publication of Päivi Herranen’s doctoral thesis, is a part of the GenActive project funded by the Research Council of Finland and the Juho Vainio and Päivikki and Sakari Sohlberg foundations. This research project investigates how genetics and environmental factors affect biological aging, specifically focusing on the weakening of muscle strength and functional capacity with age. The project is led by Assistant Professor and Academy Research Fellow Elina Sillanpää and involved collaboration with the Gerontology Research Center (GEREC), the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), and the FinnGen research project. By studying the relationship between genetic predisposition for muscle strength and common diseases, this research provides valuable insights into the role of genetics in determining an individual’s susceptibility to age-related diseases and their ability to cope with them.
