Correlation between biological aging and multiple pregnancies
A new study suggests that pregnancy may accelerate the biological aging process in women.
According to the Washington Post and other sources on the 8th (local time), researchers from the Aging Center at Columbia University in the U.S. announced that women who have experienced pregnancy have a greater biological age than those who have not and that multiple pregnancies further accelerate the aging process. This was published in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) issue.
The researchers examined pregnancy histories and DNA samples from 1,735 men and women aged 20-22 in the Philippines. They calculated the participants’ biological age using an epigenetic clock, a genetic tool for estimating biological age.
The results showed that women with pregnancy experience aged faster in all six epigenetic clocks compared to those without. Pregnancies included in this study were those that ended in miscarriage, stillbirth, and normal delivery.
The researchers found that the relationship between expected pregnancy and biological aging remained valid even after considering socioeconomic status, smoking, genetic mutations, and the participants’ environment.
They also discovered that women with more pregnancies aged faster than those with fewer pregnancies. For men, the number of pregnancies did not affect the epigenetic clock.
Kaelan Ryan, a researcher at Columbia University’s Aging Center, found that young women with high fertility rates age faster biologically due to pregnancy, according to a study.
However, he added, “There is still much we need to uncover about the role of pregnancy and other aspects of reproduction in the aging process. Also, we do not know whether biological aging will affect health or mortality decades later.”
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