If you want to increase your chances of living a long life, you’ve probably already heard the advice to eat well and exercise — over and over again.
So here’s a new idea: awaken your creative expression and participate more in the arts. A new study finds that this may help boost longevity by slowing your rate of aging.
If you’re a painter or a pianist, you may have already noticed how creating art or music can lower your stress level. Creative expression can have a profound effect on our biology. Researchers at University College London had a hunch that the benefits went beyond that.
They analyzed survey data and blood samples from about 3,500 adults who were part of a long-term study in the United Kingdom — including some who were very involved in the arts, as well as others who had very little contact with them. Then they used “epigenetic clocks” to assess the participants’ rate of aging.
“We found in this study that ‘arts engagement’ was associated with a 4% slower rate of aging; that means people were about a year younger, biologically, if they were regularly engaged with the arts,” explains researcher Daisy Fancourt. “In fact, this is the same reduction in biological aging that we observed in relation to physical activity,” she says.
The participants answered a series of questions, ranging from their exercise habits to questions about more than 40 different artistic activities.
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The slower rate of aging was observed both among the “practitioners” of the arts — people who dance, sing or create works of art — and among those who consume art by attending concerts, theaters or museums. The results were published in the journal *Innovation in Aging*.
“Honestly, this really surprises me,” says Steven Horvath, a geneticist and biostatistician at UCLA. He developed the “Horvath aging clock,” a tool researchers use to assess a person’s biological age based on specific chemical changes in their DNA over time.
Measuring the rate of aging
The authors of the new study used seven epigenetic clocks — including a Horvath clock — each of which adds different layers of nuance to the interpretation of aging, morbidity and mortality risk. Previous studies have shown that healthy habits can slow epigenetic aging, and this new study brings a new perspective.
“I consider this a very rigorous study; what seems particularly innovative to me is the finding that engagement with the arts can have effects comparable to those of physical activity,” says Horvath.
Horvath explains that a person’s chronological age corresponds to their actual age in years, based on the date recorded on their birth certificate. However, given that people do not age at the same rate, an epigenetic clock can measure an individual’s rate of aging — that is, their “biological” age.
“Overall, I feel this study pushes the field of epigenetic clocks toward new frontiers,” he says, pointing to the evaluation of the effects of leisure activities on aging.
How does an epigenetic clock work?
Epigenetic clocks are tests that analyze patterns of DNA methylation. As we age, chemical markers called methyl groups attach to our DNA. The pattern of these markers provides researchers with an indicator of biological age.
“It is possible to use methylation to measure the passage of time in all cells that contain DNA,” explains Horvath.
Horvath spent years at UCLA studying how this molecular biomarker of aging works. In his research, he documented how methylation alters one of the four “letters” of DNA — specifically the letter C, which stands for cytosine.
“Some of these changes confer protection on us,” he says, “while others can lead to adverse consequences.” He and his collaborators identified specific points in the DNA where the pattern of chemical modifications shows the highest correlation with the changes associated with aging. They found that the higher the proportion of methylated DNA in certain regions, the more accelerated a person’s biological age will be.
“We spent more than 10 years trying to understand which factors accelerate the epigenetic clock,” reports Horvath. They discovered that smoking, an unhealthy diet, a sedentary lifestyle and “practically any lifestyle factor that is harmful to health” accelerate the clock.
On the other hand, a diet rich in micronutrients from fruits and vegetables, maintaining a healthy body weight and regular physical exercise help slow the methylation process.
“A non-pharmacological intervention”
The University College London study suggests deepening the investigation into the health benefits of the arts.
The survey data included only a snapshot of the participants’ artistic activity, since they were asked about the types of artistic *hobbies* and cultural events they had participated in over the past 12 months. “It’s an intriguing observation, but one that definitely needs to be replicated,” says Horvath.
And many questions remain open. For example: whether a person who is not currently active in the arts could take up a new musical or artistic *hobby* in midlife and experience a slowing of aging; and how frequently they would need to participate to obtain significant results.
Cardiologist Doug Vaughan of Northwestern University says that creative activities can be an antidote to stress. When people reduce their long-term stress levels, he says, this can also help attenuate inflammation — one of the mechanisms by which the arts may be associated with a slower rate of aging.
“The arts — or being creative, or appreciating the arts — constitute a non-pharmacological intervention,” says Vaughan, “that people can enjoy.” One of his new research projects will test the effects of a stress-reduction program on epigenetic age. “The biology is quite clear,” he states, pointing to the negative effects of chronic stress on health.
Vaughan says that many of his patients tell him they are interested in finding ways to maintain health that do not require a medical prescription. Thus, he says that when something can be fun and, at the same time, beneficial to our health, it is a situation in which everyone wins.
Source: npr.org
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