Exercise Changes How Genes For Disease Are Expressed

Researchers in Sweden who used technology to analyze the genomes of 23 slightly overweight, healthy young men after aerobic exercise found that epigenetic changes had taken place in 7,000 of their genes. They specifically found changes in genes in fat cells linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity, suggesting that DNA methylation – determining whether genes are expressed or not – after physical activity could be one of the ways these genes affect the risk of disease. In other words, exercise has a positive effect on genes because the epigenetic pattern of genes that affect fat storage changes.