Longer Telomeres Mean Longer Life

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Longer Telomeres Mean Longer Life?

A study from King's College in London, England reported

in the Archives of Internal Medicine (January 28, 2008) that

people who exercise regularly have telomeres that are longer than

those of couch potatoes. White blood cell telomeres shorten over time

and serve as a marker of a person's biological age.

The study compared physical activity, smoking and

socioeconomic status in 2,401 sets of twins. Those who were more

active had longer leukocyte telomeres than those who were less

active. The researchers concluded that " The mean difference in

leukocyte telomere length between the most active (who performed an

average of 199 minutes of physical activity per

week) and the least active (16 minutes of physical activity per week)

subjects was 200 nucleotides, which means that the most active

subjects had telomeres the same length as sedentary individuals 10

years younger, on average. "