American researchers have observed that correlation also persists in different socio -economic realities and lifestyles
Summary
The study of the University of Southern California has revealed that a frequent exposure to biological aging accelerates heat, regardless of the socio -economic factors and highlights the vulnerability of the elderly and the need for mitigation strategies in the face of global warming.
Have you ever stopped thinking that your cells could age faster due to heat? This is what a study conducted by the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology of the University of Southern California in the United States.
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The research observed a correlation between greater exposure to heat and acceleration of biological aging, even among those with different realities and socio -economic lifestyles, such as smoking, physical inactivity and alcohol consumption.
“Just because you live in an area with more hot days, you are aging biologically faster,” said Jennifer Ailshire, senior author of the study. Unlike the chronological age, according to the date of birth, the biological age measures the functions of the body on a cellular level. Therefore, a more advanced biological age than the chronological age can indicate a greater presence of illness and greater mortality.
Jennifer Ailshire and Eunyoung Choi, co -author of the study, accompanied for six years 3,600 people of 56 years or more in the United States. During this period, blood samples were collected to map epigenetic changes, that is, the changes related to the way the genes are activated or deactivated, but which do not change the DNA. The accompanied process was methylation, which consists in the addition of methyl groups to certain DNA positions.
The researchers used tools called “epigenetic watches” to analyze these standards and estimate biological ages. The changes were also compared with the history of temperatures in the region and the number of hot days represented by the National Meteorology Service (NWS).
The agency classifies three -level heat indexes: attention, when the temperature is between 26 ° C and 32 ° C; Extreme attention, between 32 ° C and 39 ° C; and danger, which ranges from 39 ° C to 51 ° C. for research, every day that has reached these classifications was classified as hot days. Aerial humidity has also been taken into consideration.
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“The participants who live in areas where the hot days, defined as extremes or more attention, occur half of the year, such as Phoenix and Arizona, have up to 14 months of further biological aging than those who live in areas less than ten days of heat per year”, explained Choi.
The elderly are even more sensitive as they have less intense sweating and therefore have less cooling capacity. Reality that lights a warning: according to the World Health Organization (WHO), the population of people aged 60 will double in the world, reaching 2.1 billion. The number of people aged 80 or more should triple between 2020 and 2050.
In these cases, the Brazilian Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology (SBGG) recommends drinking a lot of water and avoiding physical activities during the hottest periods of the day. It also indicates to avoid taking caffeine and alcohol, which contribute to dehydration.
“If everywhere it is becoming warmer and the population is aging and these people are vulnerable, then we really have to think about mitigation strategies,” says Ailshire.
Although it is already of general knowledge that heat can aggravate existing health, bringing to hospitalizations and even causing dead, its connection with biological aging is not yet clear. Therefore, the research should however advance to discover that other factors can indicate greater vulnerability to this aging.
This is not the first study to raise hypotheses that correlate the heat with the acceleration of biological aging. A study from 2023, conducted in Augusta, Germany, observed an increase in the epigenetic age – the difference between chronological and biological ages – after a medium and long term exposure at high temperatures.
Source: Terra
Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.
