Does Exercise Alter how Gene's Behave?

 Identical twins can often develop differing diseases throughout their lifetime according to a new study. One of the main determinants of this is how physically active each twin is during their lifetime. An exercise study was done on 70 sets of twins over the course of seven years. Activity trackers were given to each participant to track their activity levels. It found that the twin with higher physical activity levels  showed lower signs of metabolic disease. Since twins have nearly identical genes, this would indicate that there were likely epigenetic changes for the more active twin. Epigenetics is the study of how your environment and your behaviors can change the way your genes function. The epigenetic markers for the more active twin showed that they were linked to having a lower metabolic syndrome, which is a condition that can lead to having type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc. There were also epigenetic changes noted for the more physically active twins BMI and waist size.  Thus proving that we do have some say in the diseases and health problems people often face in old age. Something as simple as taking a 30 minute walk everyday could have life altering effects down the road. Hopefully this study will encourage people to stay more physically active and to also realize their daily behaviors have a huge say in their health.