Latest news with #biologicalAging
Health Line
24-05-2025
- Health
- Health Line
Vitamin D May Slow Biological Aging and Help You Live Longer
A new study suggests that vitamin D supplementation may help preserve the lengths of the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes known as telomeres. Researchers say maintaining the length of telomeres may help slow some aspects of biological aging. Telomere length is an important component of healthy aging, but the role vitamin D can play isn't yet certain. A new study reports that vitamin D supplementation may help slow some of the mechanisms of biological aging. The research, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, suggests that vitamin D may help maintain the stability of telomeres, the protective caps at the end of chromosomes that tend to shorten as people get older. That shortening is a natural part of aging, but it has been linked to certain age-related diseases. Among those diseases are cancer of the bladder, lungs, kidneys, and gastrointestinal systems. 'Our findings suggest that targeted vitamin D supplementation may be a promising strategy to counter a biological aging process, although further research is warranted,' said Haidong Zhu, MD, PhD, the first author of the study and a molecular geneticist at the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, in a statement. Experts agree the new research is interesting, but they note it has its limits. 'Telomere length was protected with vitamin D supplementation, but it's not clear how that translates to real life biological aging,' Marilyn Tan, MD, a clinical associate professor of medicine at Stanford University in California, told Healthline. Tan wasn't involved in the study. 'The present study involved only a relatively small number of people, looked only at telomeres in white blood cells, and did not look extensively at the health impact of these telomere changes,' added David Cutler, MD, a family medicine physician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. 'So, the clinical implications one can derive from this study are quite limited.' Cutler was likewise not involved in the study. Vitamin D and the aging process The researchers based their findings on the results of the VITAL randomized controlled clinical trial, which was overseen by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. For their study, the researchers tracked 1,054 participants to see if vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids can lessen telomere shortening and slow biological aging. The study group included females ages 55 and older and males ages 50 and older. The researchers followed the participants for five years, measuring telomere length in white blood cells at baseline, year two, and year four. The researchers reported that omega-3 fatty acids had no significant effect on telomere length. However, they said vitamin D3 supplements significantly reduced telomere shortening and prevented the equivalent of nearly three years of aging in people who took vitamin D in comparison to people who were given a placebo. Experts say such a slowdown in the aging process has important benefits. 'Slowing biological aging may improve life expectancy and quality of life, and it could reduce the risk of various disease states,' Tan said. How to boost your vitamin D intake It's estimated that 35% of people in the United States have a deficiency of vitamin D. The current recommendation for daily vitamin D consumption is 400 to 800 international units for most healthy people. Vitamin D is known as the 'sunshine vitamin' because the best source for it is sunlight. Your body makes dietary vitamin D3 out of the cholesterol in the skin when it is exposed to the sun's UV rays. The best time to get the most of this beneficial sunlight is noon, when the sun is at its peak. However, experts say that too much sunlight can cause sunburns, eye damage, heatstroke, and skin cancer. There aren't a lot of foods that are sufficient sources of vitamin D, but there are a few. They are: cod liver oil cooked swordfish cooked salmon canned tuna cooked beef liver large egg yolks In addition, you can drink milk fortified with vitamin D. Some types of mushrooms as well as cheese can also be healthy sources for vitamin D. Tan said the amount of vitamin D a person needs depends on the individual. 'The ideal amount of supplementation depends on one's baseline vitamin D level,' she explained. 'Various factors can impact vitamin D levels and metabolism, including sun exposure, time of year, geographical location, skin tone, kidney function, among other factors.' 'While sun exposure can increase vitamin D levels, excessive UV exposure has other health risks,' Tan noted. 'Vitamin D can be obtained to a certain degree from the diet, but people often need additional supplemental vitamins. To know exactly how much vitamin D supplementation one needs, you should discuss with your healthcare provider.' Cutler said people with healthy vitamin D levels probably don't need supplementation. 'There have been many studies involving tens of thousands of people seeking to document [the] benefits of vitamin D in healthy adults with normal vitamin D levels, and no benefits have been found,' Cutler told Healthline. 'There has been no documentation of reduced cancer rates, less cardiovascular disease, increased longevity, protection from infection, or improved outcomes from COVID.'
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New study makes stunning revelation about unexpected factor causing people to age faster: 'Similar to the effect of smoking and drinking'
If rising global temperatures have you feeling worn down, you aren't alone. A new study published in Science Advances and reported on by NPR found that extreme heat can speed up biological aging in a way that researchers say is "similar to the effect of smoking and drinking." That's the warning from Eunyoung Choi, a gerontologist at the University of Southern California and the lead author of the study. Researchers analyzed blood samples from more than 3,600 U.S. adults over age 56 and compared their genetic markers to past weather data for their home regions. They looked for signs of "epigenetic aging," a process that changes how our genes behave and is linked to an earlier onset of health conditions such as dementia, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. They found that people who lived in areas with prolonged heat — such as Phoenix, where the heat index topped 90 degrees for more than half the year — appeared biologically 14 months older than people living in cooler regions. And that was after considering other factors such as income, education, exercise, and smoking, showing that heat exposure alone has an effect on how fast our bodies age. Scientists have known that heat can negatively affect our health in many ways, from heart issues to increased hospital visits and deaths during heat waves. But in the long term, premature aging also strains families and health systems. "It's just a tremendous strain … that increases your medication budget [and] really can have tremendous impacts," said gerontologist Deborah Carr of Boston University, who was not involved in the study. As global temperatures rise, fueled by our use of dirty energy sources such as oil and gas, extreme heat days are expected to increase across the U.S. by 20 to 30 days annually by the middle of the century. And that's happening at the same time America's population is aging, a concerning overlap since older adults are more vulnerable to heat-related complications. Prolonged exposure to heat makes "you sort of accelerate your way towards an old heart, and an old vulnerable heart," Tom Clanton, a physiologist and heat expert at the University of Florida's College of Health and Human Performance, explained. Researchers say this helps explain the connection between heat and illness. It also points to the need for personalized assessments of heat exposure, especially in homes and communities without reliable cooling. The next step for researchers is to better understand how individual environments — such as overheated homes or neighborhoods with less green space — contribute to heat exposure and health risks. That information could help shape future solutions, from city planning to home cooling upgrades. To protect your household from extreme heat while saving money on electric bills, consider climate-smart upgrades such as installing a heat pump (which also cools your space) or taking steps to weatherize your home. Do you worry about air pollution in and around your home? Yes — always Yes — often Yes — sometimes No — never Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
