Latest news with #UniversityofSouthernCalifornia
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Extreme heat is miserable and dangerous. It's also making us age faster
The soupy, smothering extreme heat that has scorched parts of the Northern Hemisphere this summer takes a hard toll on our bodies. It can make you feel nauseous, woozy and dehydrated. It can have pernicious health effects on multiple organs. But there's another, less well-known, impact of extreme heat: It makes you age faster. Prolonged exposure to soaring temperatures can cause a deterioration in our cells and tissues and speed up biological aging, according to a new and growing body of research. Chronological age refers to how long a person has lived, but biological — or 'epigenetic' — age measures how well our tissues and cells function. The difference between the two explains why sometimes someone's age does not seem to match their health and vitality. An accelerated biological age is the 'canary in the coal mine' for future risk of earlier onset of diseases such as cancer, dementia and diabetes, and early death, said Jennifer Ailshire, professor of gerontology and sociology at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. As climate change forces people to endure increasingly severe and longer lasting heat waves, scientists say there is an urgency to better understand the ways heat is slowly and silently undermining human health at a cellular level. How does heat accelerate aging? Our DNA is set at birth; it is the blueprint for how the body functions and cannot be changed. But the way DNA is expressed — the way this blueprint is carried out — can be affected by external factors that trigger chemical modifications that turn genes on or off like a light switch. External factors affecting these switches include behaviors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, as well as environmental factors, like heat. Heat stresses the body, making it work harder as it tries to cool down, which can damage cells. While a little bit of heat stress can be good for the body, helping increase resilience, prolonged exposure taxes the body over extended periods and can have long-term consequences. Research on animals has pointed to strong associations between heat and accelerated aging but, until recently, there were very few studies that looked at humans. Ailshire is one of the scientists trying to change that. She and another researcher, Eunyoung Choi, published the first population-scale research into this area in February. They analyzed blood samples taken from a group of more than 3,600 people across the United States aged 56 and above. They used tools called 'epigenetic clocks,' which capture the way DNA is modified and provide an estimate of biological age. They then linked this to daily climate data in participants' locations in the years before the blood samples were taken. Their results, published in February, found people who experienced at least 140 extreme heat days a year — when the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, was above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — aged up to 14 months faster than those in locations with less than 10 extreme heat days a year. This link between heat and biological aging remained even when taking into account individual factors such as exercise levels and income, although the study did not look at access to air conditioning or time spent outside. The strength of the association was significant, too. The results showed extreme heat had the same impact on aging as smoking or heavy alcohol use. Their findings are supported by other recent research. A 2023 study of more than 2,000 people in Germany found medium- and long-term exposure to heat was linked to accelerated biological aging. The impacts were particularly pronounced in women, who can be more vulnerable to heat as they tend to sweat less, meaning it's harder for them to cool down. People with diabetes or obesity were also more at risk, the study found. The effects can even start before birth. A 2024 study looked at accelerated biological aging in children in Kenya who were exposed to drought as fetuses. During pregnancy, their mothers endured heat, as well as dehydration and emotional distress. These factors can cause stress at a cellular level that needs to be repaired, which means less energy is available for other vital functions, potentially leading to accelerated aging, the study found. Heat stress can also reduce blood flow to the uterus and placenta. 'So we see an impact on growth that includes lower birth weights and an overall harder start to life — all of which can be reflected in faster biological aging,' said Bilinda Straight, a study author and a professor at the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. What can people do? Thiese findings do not mean that everyone living in hot places will experience accelerated aging, Ailshire said. Each person has their own risk factors and there are ways to adapt. Access to cooling and avoiding exercise in the hottest parts of the day are important. Better nutrition, more exercise (in the cool parts of the day) and medication can also help, she added. Scientists have found drugs including metformin, prescribed for diabetes, and weight-loss medication Ozempic could slow aging. If people can change or find ways to adapt to their heat exposure levels, it may be possible to slow or reverse the accelerated aging process, Ailshire said. 'Because that's not permanent damage; it's an indicator of the potential for permanent damage. It doesn't necessarily signify that this damage has been done.' The area of study is very new. 'We are just at the start of understanding this process, particularly in humans,' Rongbin Xu, a research fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in Australia. But as places warm up, and heat records continue to be smashed, scientists are going to have a lot more data about the myriad ways heat affects our bodies — and who is most vulnerable. 'If we can't do anything about rising temperatures, then at a minimum, we need to be increasing awareness and finding strategies,' Ailshire said. 'There has to be a way that we can get through this.' Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
5 hours ago
- Health
- CNN
Extreme heat is making us age faster. Here's how
The soupy, smothering extreme heat that has scorched parts of the Northern Hemisphere this summer takes a hard toll on our bodies. It can make you feel nauseous, woozy and dehydrated. It can have pernicious health effects on multiple organs. But there's another, less well-known, impact of extreme heat: It makes you age faster. Prolonged exposure to soaring temperatures can cause a deterioration in our cells and tissues and speed up biological aging, according to a new and growing body of research. Chronological age refers to how long a person has lived, but biological — or 'epigenetic' — age measures how well our tissues and cells function. The difference between the two explains why sometimes someone's age does not seem to match their health and vitality. An accelerated biological age is the 'canary in the coal mine' for future risk of earlier onset of diseases such as cancer, dementia and diabetes, and early death, said Jennifer Ailshire, professor of gerontology and sociology at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. As climate change forces people to endure increasingly severe and longer lasting heat waves, scientists say there is an urgency to better understand the ways heat is slowly and silently undermining human health at a cellular level. Our DNA is set at birth; it is the blueprint for how the body functions and cannot be changed. But the way DNA is expressed — the way this blueprint is carried out — can be affected by external factors that trigger chemical modifications that turn genes on or off like a light switch. External factors affecting these switches include behaviors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, as well as environmental factors, like heat. Heat stresses the body, making it work harder as it tries to cool down, which can damage cells. While a little bit of heat stress can be good for the body, helping increase resilience, prolonged exposure taxes the body over extended periods and can have long-term consequences. Research on animals has pointed to strong associations between heat and accelerated aging but, until recently, there were very few studies that looked at humans. Ailshire is one of the scientists trying to change that. She and another researcher, Eunyoung Choi, published the first population-scale research into this area in February. They analyzed blood samples taken from a group of more than 3,600 people across the United States aged 56 and above. They used tools called 'epigenetic clocks,' which capture the way DNA is modified and provide an estimate of biological age. They then linked this to daily climate data in participants' locations in the years before the blood samples were taken. Their results, published in February, found people who experienced at least 140 extreme heat days a year — when the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, was above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — aged up to 14 months faster than those in locations with less than 10 extreme heat days a year. This link between heat and biological aging remained even when taking into account individual factors such as exercise levels and income, although the study did not look at access to air conditioning or time spent outside. The strength of the association was significant, too. The results showed extreme heat had the same impact on aging as smoking or heavy alcohol use. Their findings are supported by other recent research. A 2023 study of more than 2,000 people in Germany found medium- and long-term exposure to heat was linked to accelerated biological aging. The impacts were particularly pronounced in women, who can be more vulnerable to heat as they tend to sweat less, meaning it's harder for them to cool down. People with diabetes or obesity were also more at risk, the study found. The effects can even start before birth. A 2024 study looked at accelerated biological aging in children in Kenya who were exposed to drought as fetuses. During pregnancy, their mothers endured heat, as well as dehydration and emotional distress. These factors can cause stress at a cellular level that needs to be repaired, which means less energy is available for other vital functions, potentially leading to accelerated aging, the study found. Heat stress can also reduce blood flow to the uterus and placenta. 'So we see an impact on growth that includes lower birth weights and an overall harder start to life — all of which can be reflected in faster biological aging,' said Bilinda Straight, a study author and a professor at the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. Thiese findings do not mean that everyone living in hot places will experience accelerated aging, Ailshire said. Each person has their own risk factors and there are ways to adapt. Access to cooling and avoiding exercise in the hottest parts of the day are important. Better nutrition, more exercise (in the cool parts of the day) and medication can also help, she added. Scientists have found drugs including metformin, prescribed for diabetes, and weight-loss medication Ozempic could slow aging. If people can change or find ways to adapt to their heat exposure levels, it may be possible to slow or reverse the accelerated aging process, Ailshire said. 'Because that's not permanent damage; it's an indicator of the potential for permanent damage. It doesn't necessarily signify that this damage has been done.' The area of study is very new. 'We are just at the start of understanding this process, particularly in humans,' Rongbin Xu, a research fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in Australia. But as places warm up, and heat records continue to be smashed, scientists are going to have a lot more data about the myriad ways heat affects our bodies — and who is most vulnerable. 'If we can't do anything about rising temperatures, then at a minimum, we need to be increasing awareness and finding strategies,' Ailshire said. 'There has to be a way that we can get through this.'
CNN
5 hours ago
- Health
- CNN
Extreme heat is making us age faster. Here's how
The soupy, smothering extreme heat that has scorched parts of the Northern Hemisphere this summer takes a hard toll on our bodies. It can make you feel nauseous, woozy and dehydrated. It can have pernicious health effects on multiple organs. But there's another, less well-known, impact of extreme heat: It makes you age faster. Prolonged exposure to soaring temperatures can cause a deterioration in our cells and tissues and speed up biological aging, according to a new and growing body of research. Chronological age refers to how long a person has lived, but biological — or 'epigenetic' — age measures how well our tissues and cells function. The difference between the two explains why sometimes someone's age does not seem to match their health and vitality. An accelerated biological age is the 'canary in the coal mine' for future risk of earlier onset of diseases such as cancer, dementia and diabetes, and early death, said Jennifer Ailshire, professor of gerontology and sociology at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. As climate change forces people to endure increasingly severe and longer lasting heat waves, scientists say there is an urgency to better understand the ways heat is slowly and silently undermining human health at a cellular level. Our DNA is set at birth; it is the blueprint for how the body functions and cannot be changed. But the way DNA is expressed — the way this blueprint is carried out — can be affected by external factors that trigger chemical modifications that turn genes on or off like a light switch. External factors affecting these switches include behaviors, such as smoking and lack of exercise, as well as environmental factors, like heat. Heat stresses the body, making it work harder as it tries to cool down, which can damage cells. While a little bit of heat stress can be good for the body, helping increase resilience, prolonged exposure taxes the body over extended periods and can have long-term consequences. Research on animals has pointed to strong associations between heat and accelerated aging but, until recently, there were very few studies that looked at humans. Ailshire is one of the scientists trying to change that. She and another researcher, Eunyoung Choi, published the first population-scale research into this area in February. They analyzed blood samples taken from a group of more than 3,600 people across the United States aged 56 and above. They used tools called 'epigenetic clocks,' which capture the way DNA is modified and provide an estimate of biological age. They then linked this to daily climate data in participants' locations in the years before the blood samples were taken. Their results, published in February, found people who experienced at least 140 extreme heat days a year — when the heat index, a combination of temperature and humidity, was above 90 degrees Fahrenheit — aged up to 14 months faster than those in locations with less than 10 extreme heat days a year. This link between heat and biological aging remained even when taking into account individual factors such as exercise levels and income, although the study did not look at access to air conditioning or time spent outside. The strength of the association was significant, too. The results showed extreme heat had the same impact on aging as smoking or heavy alcohol use. Their findings are supported by other recent research. A 2023 study of more than 2,000 people in Germany found medium- and long-term exposure to heat was linked to accelerated biological aging. The impacts were particularly pronounced in women, who can be more vulnerable to heat as they tend to sweat less, meaning it's harder for them to cool down. People with diabetes or obesity were also more at risk, the study found. The effects can even start before birth. A 2024 study looked at accelerated biological aging in children in Kenya who were exposed to drought as fetuses. During pregnancy, their mothers endured heat, as well as dehydration and emotional distress. These factors can cause stress at a cellular level that needs to be repaired, which means less energy is available for other vital functions, potentially leading to accelerated aging, the study found. Heat stress can also reduce blood flow to the uterus and placenta. 'So we see an impact on growth that includes lower birth weights and an overall harder start to life — all of which can be reflected in faster biological aging,' said Bilinda Straight, a study author and a professor at the School of Environment, Geography, and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. Thiese findings do not mean that everyone living in hot places will experience accelerated aging, Ailshire said. Each person has their own risk factors and there are ways to adapt. Access to cooling and avoiding exercise in the hottest parts of the day are important. Better nutrition, more exercise (in the cool parts of the day) and medication can also help, she added. Scientists have found drugs including metformin, prescribed for diabetes, and weight-loss medication Ozempic could slow aging. If people can change or find ways to adapt to their heat exposure levels, it may be possible to slow or reverse the accelerated aging process, Ailshire said. 'Because that's not permanent damage; it's an indicator of the potential for permanent damage. It doesn't necessarily signify that this damage has been done.' The area of study is very new. 'We are just at the start of understanding this process, particularly in humans,' Rongbin Xu, a research fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University in Australia. But as places warm up, and heat records continue to be smashed, scientists are going to have a lot more data about the myriad ways heat affects our bodies — and who is most vulnerable. 'If we can't do anything about rising temperatures, then at a minimum, we need to be increasing awareness and finding strategies,' Ailshire said. 'There has to be a way that we can get through this.'
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
From punk rock to gardening classes: the cemeteries getting a new lease on life
Rodney Anonymous, lead singer of the punk rock band The Dead Milkmen, has performed in venues around the world. His favorite place to play live is filled with the dead at the Laurel Hill cemetery in Philadelphia, where he used to ride his bike as a kid. The acoustics are great, and when there's a full moon, there's no place like it, the singer said. The band, whose songs include Punk Rock Girl and Bitchin' Camaro, have played at the burial grounds at least five times since 2012, and have plans to appear again next year. 'My wife and I were there for movie night and a lightbulb went off and I thought: 'Well, let me write them and ask. What's the worst that could happen? They say no and then they bury me alive?'' said Anonymous, who described the cemetery as the 'happy place' for the couple. Cemeteries nationwide are coming up with creative ways to liven up – sorry – their wide-open green spaces. From a beekeeping collective in Seattle to 'Night of Grief' karaoke in Washington DC, cemetery owners say events help them reconnect with the local community and sometimes bring in some much-needed funds. Visitors say they enjoy the cool vibe, family- and dog-friendly areas and innovative ideas. Cemeteries have always been community spaces in the United States, said David Sloane, author of Is the Cemetery Dead? and professor at the University of Southern California. Because many were public green spaces, families would come on Sundays to picnic on the grounds or take walks along the paths, he said. In the late 20th century, that collective use faded. Sloane remembers that his father, who was superintendent of Oakwood cemetery in Syracuse, New York, got a lot of backlash from the community for letting people jog through it. Sloane sees the resurgence of cemetery culture as part of a larger shift as people move away from traditional burials to cremation, and a way to bring in some income. According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), 61.8% of Americans chose cremation in 2024, up from 56.2% in 2020. The Canadian rate reached 76.7%, up from 73.7% in 2020, respectively. 'There's a move from a very restrictive idea to a broader sense of what's OK [to do in a cemetery],' he said. 'Instead of just a choral group in a chapel, now it's a rock group in a mausoleum.' Brian Heinz, director of horticulture and arboriculture at Spring Grove, an 180-year-old, 750-acre (300-hectare) cemetery and arboretum in Cincinnati, Ohio, said they offer community horticulture tours, container gardening and lantern-lighting ceremonies. They also collaborate with the University of Cincinnati's horticulture program, teaching plant-identification classes. Heinz said the approach of using cemetery spaces for cultural opportunities started changing in the 1980s, and then really expanded in the 2000s. At Spring Grove for 26 years, he said that as an operating burial ground, it's sometimes a delicate balance between community and cemetery. Spring Grove operates a four-car tram to give tours, and it's critical to adjust the route to accommodate the burial schedule. 'It's a little more of a challenge for the docents, because they're more structured with their script, and they have mausoleums and people and their history – the stories that they want to talk about,' he said. 'It almost pains them a bit if they're not able to get by certain people, but the drivers and the docents will check in before the tour to our office and look at the daily schedule and adjust.' In Washington DC, Laura Lyster-Mensh is the death doula-in-residence at the 33-acre Congressional cemetery, where thecformer FBI director J Edgar Hoover and former DC mayor Marion Barry are buried. As people started moving to the suburbs, it became harder to keep up the cemetery and it became unkempt and dangerous, she said. In 1997, neighbors formed the K9 Corps, whose members pay $400-$500 a year to be able to walk their dogs off-leash during specific hours. At one point, the group had a three-year waiting list, and now dues cover 25% of the cemetery's operating costs, according to the website. It saved the cemetery, Lyster-Mensh said. Now, the cemetery offers several events, including tours, death cafes and a book club entitled Tomes and Tombs. One of the biggest events is an outdoor theater night in October called Soul Strolls, where people walk by lantern light through the grounds, and people 'appear' at the graves to tell stories. Most events are free, but the Soul Strolls tickets were $40 for general admission in 2024. 'One of my favorite activities was Bad Art Day … a lot of people are weighed down by their stuff and the things that they didn't get done, their art supplies and their aspirational crafts kind of really weigh on people,' Lyster-Mensh said. 'So we had a day where we invited people to come in and dump all their drawers and boxes of craft and art supplies, and that we would all make bad art with it.' Nancy Goldenberg, CEO of Laurel Hill in Philadelphia, said the income from ticketed events like Market of the Macabre bring in some money, but it's only a small portion of the budget. The craft show, which costs $5-$10 to attend, offers vendors selling dollhouse-sized caskets and zombie Sesame Street characters. The aim of the tours and programming is to introduce people to Laurel Hill and build visibility and awareness, particularly for first-time visitors. 'It may be really cool to go see Eraserhead in a cemetery. That was such a cool event, let's go back and go to the market,' Goldenberg said. 'It's about building affinity and building an audience and having them understand the importance of this historic site in the region and to the community.' Some cemeteries have opened up to non-paying residents. At the 145-acre Evergreen Washelli in Seattle, the Catacomb Bee Collective tends to 20 beehives on site, said Madison Opp, a beekeeper and beekeeping educator. It started in 2021 with a simple phone call to the main office, she said, adding that the grounds are particularly attractive because of the flowering trees and the longer grasses. The hives are located near a bird sanctuary, far enough away from the active part of the grounds that people sometimes have a hard time finding them, she said. Beekeepers help tend the grounds and check on the hives every other week, harvesting honey once a year, she said. The hope is to offer beekeeping classes and offer honey to those saying goodbye to loved ones, a little something to offset the sadness. 'We've actually had families who specifically request a gravesite near the bees,' said Opp. 'It's really sweet.'
Deccan Herald
a day ago
- Science
- Deccan Herald
Rising seas, shifting sands threaten ancient Alexandria
From her ninth-floor balcony over Alexandria's seafront, Eman Mabrouk looked down at the strip of sand that used to be the wide beach where she played as a child. "The picture is completely different now," she said. The sea has crept closer, the concrete barriers have got longer and the buildings around her have cracked and shifted. Every year 40 of them collapse across Egypt's second city, up from one on average a decade ago, a study shows. The storied settlement that survived everything from bombardment by the British in the 1880s to attacks by crusaders in the 1160s is succumbing to a subtler foe infiltrating its foundations. The warming waters of the Mediterranean are rising, part of a global phenomenon driven by climate change. In Alexandria, that is leading to coastal erosion and sending saltwater seeping through the sandy substrate, undermining buildings from below, researchers say. "This is why we see the buildings in Alexandria being eroded from the bottom up," said Essam Heggy, a water scientist at the University of Southern California who co-wrote the study published in February describing a growing crisis in Alexandria and along the whole coast. The combination of continuous seawater rises, ground subsidence and coastal erosion means Alexandria's coastline has receded on average 3.5 metres a year over the last 20 years, he told Reuters. 'For many people who see that climatic change is something that will happen in the future and we don't need to worry about it, it's actually happening right now, right here," Heggy said. The situation is alarming enough when set out in the report - "Soaring Building Collapses in Southern Mediterranean Coasts" in the journal Earth's Future. For Mabrouk, 50, it has been part of day-to-day life for years. She had to leave her last apartment when the building started moving.
