Lifestyle Beats Genetics on Path to Premature Death, Study Finds

Environmental and lifestyle factors play a far greater role than genetics in determining the likelihood of dying young, according to the largest study yet to untangle the contributions of nature and nurture to healthy aging.

A range of external factors including exercise and smoking — collectively dubbed the “exposome” — was almost 10 times more likely than genetic risk factors to explain premature mortality, scientists from the University of Oxford and Massachusetts General Hospital said in the Nature Medicine journal.