| Nature vs. Nurture on Aging Front |
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Good news for couch potatoes. The key to slowing aging may be in your genes, not your jeans. According to new research from King’s College London and the University of Leicester, biological age is a much more important factor than chronological age in determining how old one looks and how susceptible one might be to age-related illnesses like heart disease or some cancers. It’s all about the telomeres—more specifically, the length of telomeres. During cell division, small pieces fall off, shortening the telomeres. In short, telomere length is a critical marker for biological age—shorter looks older. The study of more than 500,000 genetic variations determined that individuals with shorter telomeres appeared biologically older. Turns out, some of us are just encoded to age more rapidly. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/178520.php |