Each Pregnancy Ages Women By 2-3 Months, Especially Noticeable In Young Women: Study

A research study, which analysed the reproductive histories and DNA samples of 1,735 individuals over a long period, discovered that pregnancy could accelerate biological aging in women, causing them to appear older.

Biological age determined using ‘epigenetic clocks’

Researchers from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health in New York carried out this study.?

Their findings have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.?

They determined participants' biological age using six different "epigenetic clocks," which are genetic tools that estimate biological age by examining patterns of DNA methylation.

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Each pregnancy aged women by 2-3 months

The study, which involved 825 young women, revealed that each reported pregnancy was associated with an additional two to three months of biological aging for the woman.?

Furthermore, women who reported more pregnancies during a six-year follow-up period experienced a greater increase in biological aging during that time frame.

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According to the report, women who reported previous pregnancies appeared biologically older compared to those who had never been pregnant.?

Calen Ryan, the lead author of the study and an associate research scientist at the Columbia Aging Center, commented, "Our findings indicate that pregnancy accelerates biological aging, and this effect is noticeable in young, highly fertile women."

Even after considering factors such as socioeconomic status, smoking habits, genetic variations, and the environmental conditions of participants' surroundings, the relationship between pregnancy and biological aging remained significant.

However, the study did not find a correlation between increased biological aging and the number of pregnancies fathered by 910 men of the same age group participating in the same health survey.

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"Ultimately I think our findings highlight the potential long-term impacts of pregnancy on women's health, and the importance of taking care of new parents, especially young mothers," said Ryan.

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