Epigenetic Age Acceleration In Young Adults With Congenital Heart Disease
Our bodies have two ages: chronological age, which is simply how many years we’ve been alive, and biological age, which reflects the true health and wear-and-tear of our cells and tissues. Sometimes, these two ages don’t match up, and a person’s biological age can be “accelerated,” meaning their body is aging faster than expected for their years.
Recent research has shed light on this phenomenon in young adults living with congenital heart disease (CHD), particularly those who underwent complex heart repairs, like the Fontan procedure, involving multiple surgeries during childhood. These individuals face unique lifelong challenges due to their altered physiology and repeated medical interventions.
The study investigated “epigenetic age acceleration,” which refers to changes in chemical tags on our DNA that can indicate how quickly our bodies are aging at a cellular level. Think of these tags as tiny switches that turn genes on or off, and their patterns can reveal insights into our biological clock.
Researchers found that young adults (aged 20-30) who had undergone multiple childhood surgeries for Fontan palliation showed significantly accelerated epigenetic aging compared to healthy individuals of the same chronological age. This suggests that their bodies are experiencing a faster rate of biological aging. The study also noted higher levels of predicted inflammatory markers, such as IL-6 and C-reactive protein, in these patients, which could be a contributing factor to the accelerated aging process.
These findings suggest that the chronic stress from their underlying heart condition, the physiological impact of early-life surgeries, and ongoing inflammation may contribute to this accelerated biological aging. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial because it could help us identify individuals at higher risk for age-related health problems earlier in life and develop more tailored care strategies to improve their long-term well-being.
Source: link to paper