If going through the botheration of labor is n’t enough , a Modern field published in the journalHuman Reproductionseems to evoke that women who give birth age faster than their tiddler - free peers , at least on a cellular grade . Apparently , having a kid racks up the equivalent weight of an additional 11 years on this one measure of biological ageing and scientist are not so sure why this is .
It all do down to a compound bodily structure called telomere : These sit at the last of a chromosome to protect DNA from devolution , a bit like a chapeau on a playpen . Every time a cellular telephone regenerates , the telomere get a picayune shorter – in this room , they are the cell ’s aging clock . Shorter telomeres have been linked to a range of health conditions and higher mortality rate as well as physical augury of aging like gray hair .
For the study , researchers at George Mason University , Virginia , examined the length of telomere in the ancestry samples of almost 2,000 American women aged between 20 and 44 , and they made a startling discovery . Those with kids had telomeres that were 4.2 percentage unforesightful on average than those without . This remained true even when difference in age , weight , and socioeconomic backgrounds were offset .
“ It is tantamount to around 11 days of accelerated cellular ageing , ” Anna Pollack , lead writer of the paper , toldNew Scientist .
And it is a more strong change than you see in subject area related to smoking and obesity , she added .
But before you get too interested or verify off having nipper in all , there have been similar studies that suggest the complete opposite . Astudy on Mayan women in 2017showed that charwoman who had more children , in fact , had longer telomeres than those who had few .
This contradiction led Pollack to meditate that it may have something to do with the stress levels in rearing a tiddler rather than the act of childbirth itself . In especial , she foreground the lack of mandatory maternal quality in the US , which could add to the already nerve-wracking vista of raise a newborn .
It seems that for now , at least , more research is needed to confirm this acceleration in cellular aging and determine its extent and cause . In the meantime , Pollack say she does n’t want mass to panic . “ We ’re not enounce ‘ do n’t have shaver ’ , she tell New Scientist . As the field authorspoint out , the “ findings should be interpreted with caution . ”
[ H / T : New Scientist ]
