Offspring of Long-Lived Parents Less Prone to Cancer

In a new study, experts at the University of Exeter Medical School state that the offspring of long-lived parents are less prone to get cancer and other common diseases related to aging, according to a news release.

The study, published in the Journal of Gerontology: Series A, found that people who had long-lived mothers or fathers were 24 percent less likely to suffer from cancer. To prove their findings, researchers compared the kids of long-lived parents to the children of those who survived for the average ages.

"Previous studies have shown that the children of centenarians tend to live longer with less heart disease, but this is the first robust evidence that the children of longer-lived parents are also less likely to get cancer. We also found that they are less prone to diabetes or suffering a stroke," professor William Henley from the University of Exeter Medical School said in a press statement.

The study was conducted on data of 9,764 men and women who had enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study. The researchers classified long-lived mothers as those who survived past 91 years and their comparison was made with those who made it up to an average age span of 77-91 years. On the other hand, fathers who lived past 87 were compared to those who lived to an average age of 65-87.

In the 18-year follow-up period from 1992 to 2010, researchers interviewed the participants every year, with questions on the age of their parents and when they died. After 18 years, the participants were in their seventies.

The researchers noticed a drop in the overall mortality rate, which dropped by 19 percent for each decade when one of the parents lived past 65 years, and the mortality rates dropped by 40 percent when the mothers lived beyond 85. There were 938 new cases of cancer that developed during the 18-year follow-up period.

"Obviously children of older parents are not immune to contracting cancer or any other diseases of ageing, but our evidence shows that rates are lower. We also found that this inherited resistance to age-related diseases gets stronger the older their parents lived," Henley explained.

The study found no evidence that the health benefits were passed from parents-in-law to the children, indicating that environment as a factor was not linked between parents living for longer durations and lowered risk of cancer.