Heritability of life span in the Old Order Amish

Abstract

Although a familial contribution to human longevity is recognized, the nature of this contribution is largely unknown. We have examined the familial contribution to life span in the Old Order Amish (OOA) population of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Analyses were conducted on 1,655 individuals, representing all those born prior to 1890 and appearing in the most widely available genealogy, surviving until at least age 30 years, and with known date of death. Mean age at death (+/-SD) in this population was 70.7 +/- 15.6 years, and this did not change appreciably over time. Parental and offspring ages at death were significantly correlated, as were ages of death among siblings. Offspring longevity was correlated with longevity of both parents, and in more or less additive fashion. For example, mean offspring age at death was 69.4 +/- 15.3 years in individuals for whom both parents died before the age of 75 years (n = 280) and increased to 73.5 +/- 16.0 years in individuals for whom neither parent died before the age of 75 years (n = 311). These differences were highly significant (P = 0.006). We estimated heritability of life span to be 25% +/- 5%, suggesting that the additive effects of genes account for one quarter of the total variability in life span in the OOA. We conclude that longevity is moderately heritable in the OOA, that the genetic effects are additive, and that genetic influences on longevity are likely to be expressed across a broad range of ages. Published 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Telomere length is paternally inherited and is associated with parental lifespan

“…Interestingly, we found no sex effect on leukocyte TL in the Amish. This observation of no sex difference in TL in the Amish is, however, consistent with our previous report that there is no difference in lifespan between Amish men and women who lived until at least age 35 (20).…”

“…Furthermore, there was no difference in the mean lifespan between the two parents of the study subjects. Thus Amish men appeared to live as long as Amish women in this data set, as we have previously reported using genealogical records (20). Fig.…”

Evolutionary conserved longevity genes and human cognitive abilities in elderly cohorts

“…10 Human longevity has been associated with higher cognitive abilities, 11 even when intelligence is measured in childhood or early adulthood and the assessment of survival has been conducted several decades later. 12,13 Behavioural genetic studies have shown that genetic factors influence both longevity 14 and cognitive traits, 7 alongside other stochastic variation. 15 Given the well-replicated phenotypic association between cognitive abilities and longevity, it is plausible that part of this is explained by shared genetic factors (genetic correlation); therefore, to explore this, it is useful to examine genes involved in longevity for their association with cognitive abilities and cognitive ageing.…”

The MNS16A polymorphism in the TERT gene in peri-centenarians from the Han Chinese population

“…Genetic factors are particularly crucial in the aging process and could greatly influence the life-span [4][5][6]. Mitchell et al [7] estimated a 25% heritability for life-span in an Amish population from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, USA.…”