Aging Anxiety And Epigenetic Aging In A National Sample Of Adult Women In The United States
Ever wonder if your worries about getting older could actually impact your body on a cellular level? New research suggests there might be a connection, particularly for women. This study explored how different types of aging anxiety relate to biological aging, which is essentially how quickly your body is aging compared to your chronological age.
The researchers looked at various aspects of aging anxiety, such as concerns about appearance, health, and reproductive changes. They then compared these anxieties to “epigenetic aging,” a measure of biological age based on changes to your DNA that don’t alter the genetic code itself but affect how genes are expressed. Think of it like a dimmer switch for your genes. They used advanced tools called “epigenetic clocks” (specifically GrimAge2 and DunedinPACE) to get a precise reading of this biological aging.
What they discovered was quite interesting: women who reported higher anxiety about their declining health showed a faster pace of biological aging. This means their bodies appeared to be aging more quickly at a cellular level. While this link was observed, the study also noted that health behaviors seemed to play a role in this relationship, suggesting that lifestyle choices might influence how anxiety translates into biological changes.
These findings support the idea that our psychological experiences, like how we feel about aging, can have real, measurable effects on our physical health and the aging process. It highlights the intricate connection between our minds and our bodies, suggesting that addressing anxieties around aging could be an important part of promoting overall well-being.
Source: link to paper