Post-Bulletin
by Anne Halliwell

Your New Year’s resolution can be a step toward a lot of things. But can it help you live longer? Dr. Robert Pignolo, Mayo Clinic’s chairman for the Department of Internal Medicine in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, says it can. Genetic predisposition and biological sex have a hand in determining longevity, but not a weighty one. “Genetics only account for about 25 percent of the variability in age between identical twins,” Pignolo said. “What that means is that most of it, we can influence — it’s environmental factors like activity and your diet. I think as far as your New Year’s resolution goes, that’s a good message.” The same factors come up in people and populations: watching one’s weight, eating more plants, getting exercise, and creating a social support network.

Reach: The Rochester Post-Bulletin is a daily newspaper that serves Rochester, Austin and its surrounding cities. The newspaper has a daily circulation of more than 30,000 and has more than 440,00 unique visitors to its website each month.

Context: Robert Pignolo, M.D., PH.D. research goals are to understand the mechanisms underlying skeletal aging, and to use insights from rare bone diseases to inform new ways of studying and treating conditions of skeletal dysfunction. Dr. Pignolo's work has relevance to stem cell biology, regenerative medicine and the influence of micro-environmental effects on cellular aging. You can read more about his research here.

Contact:  Emily Blahnik

Tags: diet, Dr. Robert Pignolo, geriatric medicine, Post Bulletin, Uncategorized