Leukocyte Telomere Length and All-Cause, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer Mortality: Results From Individual-Participant-Data Meta-Analysis of 2 Large Prospective Cohort Studies.

Peer-Reviewed Scientific Journal:
American Journal Of Epidemiology

Size of study:
12,199 adults

Summary
This very large meta-analysis looked at telomere lengths in 2 well studies cohorts (ESTHER from Europe and the Nurses’ Health Study from the United States) in relationship to all-cause, cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality. Telomere length was measured using qPCR. After analysis, leukocyte telomere length was inversely correlated with age (the shorter the telomere, the older the age). After adjusting for age, telomere length was also significantly inversely associated with all-cause mortality (the shorter the telomeres, the higher the risk for all-cause mortality). This large meta-analysis shows that telomere length is predictive of all-cause mortality independent of age.

Link to study

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