Finnish Study Suggests Exercise Plays Smaller Role in Longevity

Common knowledge coupled with numerous polls on lifestyle and longevity indicate that exercise generally contributes to longer lives. Physicians consistently encourage their patients to exercise regularly, and many experts contend that the modern sedentary lifestyle has significantly contributed to poor health and reduced lifetimes.

However, a recent Finnish Twins Cohort Study report has suggested that exercise may not be as integral to longevity as previously thought. The report notes that “leisure time physical activity” has little direct effect on lifespan, questioning the conventional knowledge that incorporating exercise into your lifestyle can help you live longer.

Generally, an individual’s lifespan is determined by a mix of factors that include genetics, disabilities, wealth, education, environment and lifestyle factors such as diet and whether or not you exercise. Exercise has been linked to longevity, especially in the modern age where sedentary lifestyles coupled with high-calorie diets have contributed to historic rates of obesity, which is known to lower lifespans.

However, while we know that the average person is more likely to live longer if they exercise, science still hasn’t quantified how much exercise contributes to longevity compared to other factors. Research that involves twins is instrumental in determining just how impactful exercise is because it allows researchers to analyze how exercise and lack of exercise can affect two individuals with extremely similar or identical genetics.

Researchers from Finland’s University of Jyväskylä used pertinent data from exercise questionnaires that were issued to same-sex adult twins in 1975, 1981 and 1990 and connected it with death records collected up to 2020. While the most active individuals had a 24% lower death rate compared to the least physically active, the effect was smaller than previous studies had found. Furthermore, only the least physically active 10% of the study group was exposed to the most significant risk.

Analysis of the participants’ biological age found that the least and most active individuals seemed biologically older than the rest of the cohort. The researchers found that the connection between exercise and longevity was reduced when they accounted for lifestyle factors such as body mass index, alcohol consumption and smoking, resulting in a 9% difference in death rates between the most active and least active groups.

Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference between the death rates of the highly active and moderately active groups. This means that a pair of twins with the same alcohol use, BMI and smoking history would have a relatively similar life expectancy even if their exercise levels were very different. The study indicates that while exercise is tied to increased longevity, its role may not be as significant as previously surmised.

As companies such as Clene Inc. (NASDAQ: CLNN) work to bring to market treatments aimed at reviving mitochondrial health, the quest to boost longevity will have some proven approaches patients can leverage.

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