People who experience more days of intense heat have greater biological aging than those who live in cold regions. This is what indicates a new study published on Wednesday (26) in the scientific journal Science Advances.
Biological aging is the term used for the process of decline of body tissues and organs and may occur independently of chronological aging, the one related to the passage of the years.
According to the studyheld by the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology of the University of Southern California (USC), suggests that the higher exposure to extreme heat accelerates this process in older adults, raising concerns about the impacts of heat waves and climate change.
To conduct the study, the researchers examined how biological age (how the body works at molecular, cellular and systemic levels), has changed over 3,600 health study and retirement with 56 years or over all the United States.
Blood samples were collected at various times over a period of six years of the study and were analyzed to observe epigenetic changes, or changes in the way genes are “turned off” or “connected” by a process called DNA methylation.
Researchers used mathematical tools called epigenetic watches to analyze methylation patterns and estimate biological ages at different points of time. With this, they compared the changes in the biological age of the participants with the history of heat index of their location and the number of heat days reported by the National Weather Service from 2010 to 2016.
The analysis revealed a significant correlation between neighborhoods with more extreme heat and individuals experiencing higher increases in biological age. This correlation persisted even after the control of socioeconomic differences and other demographic differences, as well as lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, alcohol consumption and smoking, according to the researchers.
For Jennifer Ailshire, senior author of the study and professor of Gerontology and Sociology at USC Leonard Davis School, older adults are particularly vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat.
“It’s really about the combination of heat and humidity, particularly for older adults, because older adults don’t sweat the same way. We begin to lose our ability to have the skin cooling effect that comes from this evaporation of sweat, ”explains the teacher. “If you are in a place with high humidity, you don’t get so much of this cooling effect. You have to look at the temperature of your area and your moisture to really understand what your risk may be. ”
Now researchers want to determine which other factors can make a person more vulnerable to biological aging that may be related to heat. From the authors’ point of view, the results of the study can lead policy formulators, architects and others to maintain heat mitigation and friendly resources to aging in mind by updating the infrastructure of cities, from sidewalks and building bus stops in mind to planting more trees and the increase of urban green space.
“If all places are getting warmer and the population is aging, and these people are vulnerable, then we need to become much smarter about these mitigation strategies,” says Ailshire.
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This content was originally published in extreme heat can accelerate aging in adults over 56 years on the CNN Brazil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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