Genetics, Habits & Moses Factor in Aging

All those health stories about living longer aside, a recent WSJ story suggested, “If you want to live to your 100th birthday” think ancestry (and/or God’s Will) since “healthy habits can only get you so far.” A 120-yr-old Moses would know.

According to the author Alex Janin: “Research is making clearer the role genes play in living to very old age. Habits like getting enough sleep, exercising & eating a healthy diet can help you stave off disease & live longer, yet when it comes to living beyond 90, genetics start to play a trump card, say researchers who study aging.” Robert Young directs a team at nonprofit Gerontology Research Group & explains: “Some people have this idea: ‘If I do everything right, diet & exercise, I can live to be 150.’ And that’s really not correct.” Boston U Prof Dr. Thomas Peris adds “about 25% of your ability to live to 90 is determined by genetics … by age 100, it’s roughly 50% genetic … by around 106, it’s 75%.”

Again, that’s not to say healthy habits aren’t important to one’s longevity as well as genetics … and, both factors certainly help get one to that 90s & beyond age. Yet, the mystery of God’s Will & one’s relationship to Him might also have to be factored in. After all, Moses got to be so old, often eating protein rich grasshoppers & after wandering (exercising) for 40 years in the desert. Moses, however, wasn’t allowed to enter the Promised Land for lack of trust in & disobedience to the Lord when God had instructed him how to use a rock to provide water to the thirsty Israelites. The Old Testament says God buried him upon his death. Fortunately, the New Testament’s story of the transfiguration of Jesus ultimately puts Moses in Heaven by a forgiving & loving Father for all the good he did in his long life, his imperfect obeying of God’s recipe in old age notwithstanding. 

Davd Soul