Search results for "Twins"

Muscle function in monozygotic female twin pairs discordant for hormone replacement therapy

2011

Introduction: Postmenopausal monozygotic twin pairs discordant for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) provide an advantageous study design controlling for genetic background for elucidating the relationships between aging, sex hormone levels, muscle strength, contractile capacity, and fatigability. Methods: Thirteen postmenopausal monozygotic twin pairs discordant for HRT were measured for maximal voluntary torque (MVC) and twitch characteristics using electrical stimulation before and after intermittent dynamic plantarflexor exercise until exhaustion. Results: Peak twitch torque was 32% higher in HRT users than in their non-HRT, genetically identical sisters (P = 0.002), but MVC did not dif…

Leisure-time physical activity, body mass index, and waist circumreference : a longitudinal twin study from adolescence to adulthood

2010

ABSTRACT LEISURE-TIME PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, BODY MASS INDEX, AND WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE: A LONGITUDINAL TWIN STUDY FROM ADOLESCENCE TO ADULTHOOD Minna Kujala Master’s Thesis of Sport Medicine The University of Jyväskylä The Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences Department of Health Sciences 2010 Pages: 54, 8 appendixes The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of persistence and changes in the frequency of leisure- time physical activity on body mass index and waist circumference from adolescence to adulthood. Also, this study investigates the effect of the intensity of physical activity on body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference in adulthood. Participants in the study, members of…

Somatosensory change detection in young healthy twin males

2013

Physical activity and health: Findings from Finnish monozygotic twin pairs discordant for physical activity.

2022

Genetic and early environmental differences including early health habits associate with future health. To provide insight on the causal nature of these associations, monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs discordant for health habits provide an interesting natural experiment. Twin pairs discordant for leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) in early adult life are thus a powerful study design to investigate the associations between long-term LTPA and indicators of health and wellbeing. We have identified 17 LTPA discordant twin pairs from two Finnish twin cohorts and summarize key findings of these studies in this paper. The carefully characterized rare long-term LTPA discordant MZ twin pairs have part…

FinnTwin16 : A Longitudinal Study from Age 16 of a Population-Based Finnish Twin Cohort

2019

The purpose of this review is to provide a detailed and updated description of the FinnTwin16 (FT16) study and its future directions. The Finnish Twin Cohort comprises three different cohorts: the Older Twin Cohort established in the 1970s and the FinnTwin12 and FT16 initiated in the 1990s. FT16 was initiated in 1991 to identify the genetic and environmental precursors of alcoholism, but later the scope of the project expanded to studying the determinants of various health-related behaviors and diseases in different stages of life. The main areas addressed are alcohol use and its consequences, smoking, physical activity, overall physical health, eating behaviors and eating disorders, weight…

Physical Activity and Academic Performance : Genetic and Environmental Associations

2020

Introduction. Physical activity and academic performance are believed to be associated. Though both traits are partially heritable, it remains unclear whether these traits also share a genetic and/or environmental background in common. We aimed to examine to what extent leisure-time physical activity and academic performance share genetic and environmental effects from early adolescence to young adulthood. Methods. Participants were Finnish twins (2543–2693 individuals/study wave) who reported their leisure-time physical activity at ages 12, 14, 17 and 24. Academic performance was assessed with teacher-reported grade point averages at ages 12 and 14 and by self-reported educational levels a…

Leisure-time physical activity, weight gain and health : a prospective follow-up in twins

2011

Leisure-time physical activity habits and abdominal adiposity in young adulthood : twin cohort and co-twin control studies

2018

Twin study designs were utilized to investigate how and what types of leisure- time physical activity (LTPA) are associated with abdominal adiposity in young adulthood taking into consideration diet and other selected health factors. The data of two studies were used: the longitudinal FinnTwin16 cohort and the clinical FITFATWIN study. In FinnTwin16, questionnaire data together with self- measured waist circumference (WC) of 3 383 (1 578 men) cohort members at mean ages 24.5 y and 34 y were used to study LTPA level and waist gain. Cross- sectional data of 4 027 (1 874 men) cohort members at mean age 34 y was used to study LTPA modes and WC. In FITFATTWIN study, ten monozygotic (MZ) male twi…

Mortality associations with DNA methylation-based biological aging and physical functioning measures across a 20-year follow-up period

2023

Background Measures of biological aging range from DNA methylation (DNAm)-based estimates to measures of physical abilities. The purpose of this study was to compare DNAm- and physical functioning-based measures of biological aging in predicting mortality. Methods We studied 63- to 76-year-old women (N = 395) from the Finnish Twin Study on Aging (FITSA). Participants’ biological age (epigenetic clocks DNAm GrimAge and DunedinPACE) was estimated using blood DNAm data. Tests of physical functioning conducted under standardized laboratory conditions included the Timed Up and Go (TUG) test and 10-m walk test. Mortality hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated per every one standard deviation (SD) in…

Does the epigenetic clock GrimAge predict mortality independent of genetic influences : an 18 year follow-up study in older female twin pairs

2021

Background: Epigenetic clocks are based on DNA methylation (DNAm). It has been suggested that these clocks are useable markers of biological aging and premature mortality. Because genetic factors explain variations in both epigenetic aging and mortality, this association could also be explained by shared genetic factors. We investigated the infuence of genetic and lifestyle factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, chronic diseases, body mass index) and education on the association of accelerated epigenetic aging with mortality using a longitudinal twin design. Utilizing a publicly available online tool, we calculated the epigenetic age using two epigenetic clocks, Horvath D…