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- Title
Association Between Telomere Length, Specific Causes of Death, and Years of Healthy Life in Health, Aging, and Body Composition, a Population-Based Cohort Study.
- Authors
Njajou, Omer T.; Wen-Chi Hsueh; Blackburn, Elizabeth H.; Newman, Anne B.; Shih-Hsuan Wu; Rongling Li; Simonsick, Eleanor M.; Harris, Tamara M.; Cummings, Steve R.; Cawthon, Richard M.
- Abstract
Although telomere length (TL) is known to play a critical role in cellular senescence, the relationship of TL to aging and longevity in humans is not well understood. In a large biracial population-based cohort, we tested the hypotheses that elderly persons with shorter TL in peripheral white blood cells have poorer survival, shorter life span, and fewer years of healthy life (YHL). Associations were evaluated using Cox proportional hazard models and linear regression analyses where appropriate. TL (in kilo base pairs) was not associated with overall survival (hazard ratio 1.0; 95% confidence interval 0.9-1.1) or death from any specific underlying cause including infectious diseases, cancer, or cardiac and cerebro- vascular diseases. TL, however, was positively associated with more YHL (β = 0.08 ± 0.04, p = .03). Findings suggest that TL may not be a strong biomarker of survival in older individuals, but it may be an informative biomarker of healthy aging.
- Subjects
TELOMERES; QUALITY of life; MULTIVARIATE analysis; COHORT analysis; OLD age
- Publication
Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences & Medical Sciences, 2009, Vol 64A, Issue 8, p860
- ISSN
1079-5006
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/gerona/glp061