Pregnancy can have a cost, reports a new study by the Mailman School of Public Health of Columbia University (USA). The investigation, carried out between 1,735 young people in the Philippines, shows that The women who informed having been pregnant seemed biologically older than the women who had never been pregnant, and women who had been pregnant more frequently seemed biologically greater than those who reported fewer pregnancies.
In depth
In particular, the number of pregnancies was not associated with biological aging among men of the same age, which implies that it is specifically related to pregnancy or breastfeeding which accelerates biological aging. The findings are published in ‘The Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences‘.
This study is based on epidemiological findings that high fertility can have negative side effects on women’s health and longevity. What was unknown, however, was whether the costs of reproduction were present in earlier stages of life, before diseases and age -related deterioration began to become evident. Until now, One of the challenges has been to quantify biological aging among young people. This challenge was overcome by using a collection of new tools that use DNA methylation (DNAM) to study different facets of cell aging, health and mortality risk. These tools, called “Epigenetic watches“They allow researchers to study aging at earlier stages of life, filling a key emptiness in the study of biological aging.
“Epigenetic watches have revolutionized the way in which we study biological aging throughout life and open new opportunities to study how and when long -term health costs of reproduction and other events of life are strengthened,” says in context Calen Ryan main author of the study and research scientist in Columbia Anging Center. “Our findings suggest that pregnancy accelerates biological aging and that these effects are evident in young women with high fertility,” Ryan summarizes. “These results are also the first to follow the same women over time, linking the changes in the number of pregnancies of each woman with the changes in their biological age“
More details
The relationship between pregnancy history and biological age He persisted even after taking into account other factors related to biological aging, such as socioeconomic level, smoking and genetic variation, but was not present among the men of the same sample. This finding, said Ryan, points to Some aspect of having children, rather than sociocultural factors associated with early fertility or sexual activityas driver of biological aging.
Despite the surprising nature of the findings, Ryan encourages readers to remember the context: “Many of the pregnancies informed to our reference extent occurred during late adolescence, when women are still growing. We hope that this type of pregnancy will be particularly challenging for a growing mother, especially if her access to medical care, resources or other forms of support is limited“
Ryan also recognizes that there is more work to do: “We still have much to learn about the role of pregnancy and other aspects of reproduction in the aging process. We do not know to what extent the accelerated epigenetic aging in these individuals in particular It will manifest as poor health or mortality decades later in life“
To take into account
In this regard, the researcher reflects that Our understanding Current of Epigenetic watches And how they predict health and mortality comes largely from North America and Europe, but that the aging process can take slightly different forms in the Philippines and other places in the world. “Ultimately, I think our findings stand out The possible long -term impacts of pregnancy on women’s health and the importance of caring for new fathers, especially young mothers“
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